Alcatraz Island Is Home To A New Exhibit Entitled “Prisoners Of Age”

The National Park Service is pleased to announce the return of the award-winning ‘PRISONERS OF AGE’ exhibition from photographer Ron Levine and designers Michael Wou and Russel Volckmann to Alcatraz Island July-December 2015.  This exhibit marks the next in a series on Alcatraz that focuses on aspects of crime and punishment, incarceration, freedom and social justice.  

PRISONERS OF AGE’ is an evocative series of photographs and chronicles of elderly men and women, taken over a period of 18 years, at prisons and prison-wards for geriatric offenders in the United States and Canada. Prisoners of age comprise the fastest growing age group in the United States. One-in-ten inmates is 55 or older. A decade ago, that was one-in-twenty. Existing prison space is in serious decline and medical costs are soaring. Incarcerating geriatric men and women in prison is becoming prohibitively expensive- up to 9 times the cost of a younger inmate.  As Federal and State prisons begin to look more like high security nursing homes, the people who manage North America's prison system worry about how to handle the imminent explosion in the geriatric population. Through photography and interviews, ‘PRISONERS OF AGE’ offers a microcosmic glimpse of what lies ahead in this new millennium.

‘The exhibition features 60 larger than life photographs and revealing narratives from conversations with the inmates, guards and prison officials. The exhibition is designed by Michael Wou and Russell Volckmann.

How to see the exhibit:

The exhibit is displayed in the New Industries Building (July – Dec. 2015) and will be open to the public visiting Alcatraz Island during daytime hours for no extra charge.  Exhibit hours are 10 am to 2 pm.  For additional information, please call NPS Alcatraz at 415-561-4900. 

Tickets to Alcatraz frequently sell out many days in advance. They are only available through Alcatraz Cruises, the official park concessionaire for ferry service, 90 days in advance: alcatrazcruises.com or 415-981-7625.

The full exhibit was last seen at Alcatraz Penitentiary in 2000. It has also been seen in The National Archives of Canada [2002], Eastern State Penitentiary Museum, Philadelphia [2002], Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin [2004], Fremantle Prison Museum, Perth [2010], and The Powerhouse Gallery, Brisbane [2011].

Alcatraz Cruises is the National Park Service concessioner of ferry service to Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay.  Alcatraz Cruises hosts nearly 1.5 million visitors annually.  Alcatraz Cruises designed, built and operates the first hybrid ferry in the United States.  The Hornblower Hybrid’s revolutionary design has reduced fuel consumption by 75% and has already begun to be implemented in other parts of the country.  For more information visit: www.alcatrazcruises.com.