SEEN: Panel Conversation

This salon-style conversation took place in connection with 𝘚𝘌𝘌𝘕, an exhibition highlighting the stories and creative expressions of artists within and beyond the carceral system, which opened at the Weisman Art Museum on February 28, 2025. The panel explores abolitionist futures rooted in community care, healing, and liberation, examining how art serves as a catalyst for empathy, dialogue, and systemic change. FEATURED SPEAKERS Louise K. Waakaa’igan is an enrolled member at Odaawaa-Zaaga’iganiing in northern Wisconsin. Her first chapbook, This Is Where, Aquarius Press, was published in 2020. She is also the first-place winner of the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop’s Broadside Competition (2016). Louise’s work has been previously published in PEN America, 21 Mythologies, The Moon Magazine, Night Colors, 27th Letter, Words in Gray Scale, and Doors Adjacent. She is ready to publish her second collection and recently has moved back to her beloved Minneapolis. C Fausto Cabrera is a multi-genre artist, writer & activist recently released from incarceration after 21 years. His work has appeared in: The Colorado Review, The Antioch Review, Puerto del Sol, The Woodward Review, among others. The Parameters of Our Cage, his prose epistle project with photographer Alec Soth is released through MACK books. His latest project is American Precariat: Parables of Exclusion, where he serves as editor for the book, published by Coffee House Press. Cabrera co-founded The Stillwater Writers Collective, partnered with the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop (MPWW). He works closely with Until We Are All Free free & We Are All Criminals to bring attention to the multifaceted ways Justice impacts people. He is a Haymarket Books 2024 Writing Freedom Fellow. Fong Lee is a Saint-Paul-based artist and We Are All Criminal’s first Storytelling Fellow. Fong spent nearly 18 years inside Minnesota state prisons; he is a celebrated poet, with publications through the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop and Asian American Writers Workshop, a beloved painter, and a published photographer. Fong and his family immigrated to the U.S. as Hmong refugees when Fong was a child, after his family was displaced from their home in Laos. Moderated by: Erin Sharkey, a writer, arts and abolition organizer, cultural worker, and film producer based in Minneapolis. She is the cofounder, with Junauda Petrus, of an experimental arts collective called Free Black Dirt and is the producer of film projects including Sweetness of Wild, an episodic web film project, and Small Business Revolution (Hulu), which explored challenges and opportunities for Black-owned businesses in the Twin Cities in the summer of 2021. Sharkey has received fellowships and residencies from the Loft Mentor Series, VONA/Voices, the Givens Foundation, Coffee House Press, the Bell Museum of Natural History, and the Jerome Foundation. In 2021, Sharkey was awarded the Black Seed Fellowship from Black Visions and the Headwaters Foundation. She has an MFA in creative writing from Hamline University and teaches with the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop. 𝘚𝘌𝘌𝘕 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘯𝘥𝘺 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘩𝘰𝘭 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘝𝘪𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘵 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘈𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘌𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘵𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘵𝘢 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘉𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥. 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘢 𝘒𝘢𝘦𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘍𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘙𝘒 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘏𝘙 𝘔𝘤𝘕𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘍𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘒𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯, 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘩 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘔𝘤𝘕𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘺, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘦𝘪𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘯’𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘩𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘩𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯-𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨.