Art exhibit: dream house of a long-term prisoner

What kind of house does a man dream of who has lived in a six-by-nine-foot cell for more than 30 years?

This question is at the heart of “The House That Herman Built,” an exhibit now showing at Artists Space, 38 Greene St., third floor, in New York City. The exhibit will end on Dec. 8.

It began as a conversation between Jackie Sumell and political prisoner Herman Wallace. Wallace is one of the Angola 3—three prisoners who were framed up after joining the Black Panther Party while confined at Louisiana State Penitentiary.

The exhibit contains a maquette of the house that Wallace and Sumell designed, as well as a replica of Wallace’s cell and timelines and correspondence linking the research on this case to the dialogue and architecture. Also part of the exhibit is a trailer for a film being made about the friendship between Wallace and Sumell and the actual realization of the development of “The House That Herman Built.”

The voice of Robert “King” Wilkerson, the third prisoner in the trio, who has been released, is heard reading Wallace’s letters to Sumell.

Wallace has dedicated this exhibit to all political prisoners and the Jena Six, in memory of the Angola Three’s staunchest supporter and donor, Dame Anita Roddick, who tragically passed away in October.

In September 2006, after a new evidentiary hearing, the court commissioner recommended that Wallace’s conviction on charges he had killed a prison guard in 1972 be overturned. After sitting on the recommendation for over a year, the Louisiana Supreme Court has denied it; now the case will be reviewed by the First Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Angola 3 are awaiting a court date for a suit they have initiated, through the American Civil Liberties Union, charging the state with cruel and unusual punishment they suffered while in prison.

For more information, visit www.Angola3.org, www.hermanshouse.org and www.anitaroddick.com.