Press
USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance ---- "BFA senior uses movement to bring awareness to the effects of incarceration"
Our Prism ---- "How a hip hop artist and a dancer are using art to reform the L.A. Jail System"
LA Dance Chronicle ---- "Art as Activism -- Jailbeddrop partners with Sola Contemporary"
Testimonies
#jailbeddrop, as a performance and installation, was remarkable for the variety of people that it attracted and spoke to as a piece of art. Standing in the crowd at the California African American Museum, I was moved to see members of the university community, activists from the Reform L.A. Jails Coalition, fellow artists and, perhaps most importantly, Los Angeles residents with first-hand experience of the injustices of incarceration, together equally captivated by the work. Mims’ harrowing opening performance, when combined with the time and space that attendees were subsequently given to personally interact with the artifacts of captivity, ensured the work’s layered impact. If performance art projects are to succeed as the spark for igniting social reform they must, above all, create fluid spaces like #jailbeddrop: simultaneously challenging the uninitiated to think, feel and act a little more, while gracefully offering hope and a language of expression for those most affected.”
-William Warrener, Lead Producer, USC Arts in Action
“I wish I could see it again, and I would recommend it to everyone who has a stake in the System. Prisoners, tax payers, guards, elected officials, mental health professionals, family members, ect.”
– John
(Fransico Homes Re-entry Program Participant)
“I saw the performance and thought this- the show provided access to really uncomfortable conversation for me as a white woman. The entire experience established a sense of accountability in the space and demanded that I speak, share, and listen. Walking through these moments of discomfort further combats ignorance, which I thought Jail Bed Drop facilitated in a positive and clear way.”
– Ardyn Flynt
“Jail Bed Drop is a gorgeously devastating reflection on what carceral institutions really are, and the ways that they degrade the human spirit, mind and body rather than rehabilitate. A truly moving piece of work. This is the type of art that helps us see what we’re dealing with more clearly.”
-Funmilola Fagbamila,
Arts and Culture Director, Black Lives Matter LA
“Working with Brianna Mims and her team to facilitate the creation of #jailbeddrop, I was struck first and foremost by she and her collaborators’ high levels of professionalism, which was vital for executing an extremely difficult performance concept. From our earliest planning conversations right through to the day of the performance, Brianna was exceptionally clear and forthcoming about her requirements and objectives to a degree that I have not previously witnessed in my experience supporting student artists and organizers."