Art auction benefiting Restorative Justice Initiative to be held April 14

School of Visual Arts faculty member Rudy Shepherd met Irvin Moore for the first time in early 2020, when Shepherd started teaching art classes at the State Correctional Institute at Rockview through Penn State's Restorative Justice Initiative (RJI). Moore, who was sentenced to life in prison in 1969, was the unofficial leader of the informal group of artists who were getting some formal training for the first time. “It became clear that things were running smoothly thanks to Irvin,” said Shepherd, professor of art. “I talked about Irvin for years after that, because meeting him blew up any type of understanding I thought I had about incarceration.” Moore was released in 2021 and a few months later, ran into Shepherd on campus. Now they are part of a group organizing an art auction and exhibition benefiting RJI, to be held on Friday, April 14, 5-8 p.m., in the HumpDay Gallery in the Visual Arts Building on the University Park campus. Following the auction of select works, the exhibition, titled “The Human Impact,” will remain on display through April 21. See the full story on Penn State News. Image: "Mumia Abu-Jamal," 8"x10" acrylic on panel, by Rudy Shepherd, Penn State professor of art, will be part of the art auction to benefit the Restorative Justice Initiative on April 14, 2023.