Folsom State Prison, Represa, CA, August 25, 2015, from the “Listen” project, 2006–18

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© Rhona Bitner, ADAGP, Artists Rights Society, New York. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer W…
Folsom State Prison, Represa, CA, August 25, 2015, from the “Listen” project, 2006–18
© Rhona Bitner, ADAGP, Artists Rights Society, New York. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College. Photo by John Bentham.
Artist/Maker (American, born 1960)
DateAugust 25, 2015
MediumFujiflex print
DimensionsImage: 40 × 40 in. (101.6 × 101.6 cm) Frame: 41 1/2 × 41 1/2 × 1 1/2 in. (105.4 × 105.4 × 3.8 cm)
Credit LineRuth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College, Clinton, NY.
Object number2024.7.8
Not on view
DescriptionCalifornia’s second oldest prison, Folsom, dates from 1880. Although it is now a medium-security facility, it was one of the first maximum-security institutions in the United States, notorious for its harsh conditions. Johnny Cash was born poor in rural Arkansas and spent his life acutely sensitive to the plight of society’s outsiders. He was inspired to write “Folsom Prison Blues” in 1953 after seeing the movie Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison while serving in the United States Air Force. He recorded his live concert for the inmates on January 13, 1968. Released as At Folsom Prison, it became a # No. 1 hit on the country music charts in 1968 and went gold six months later.
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Additional Details

Signature Verso (Sharpie): "© RHONA BITNER / ALL RIGHTS RESERVED / FOLSOM STATE PRISON / REPRESA, CA / AUGUST 25, 2015 / FROM LISTEN 4/6"
Grande Ballroom, Detroit, MI, October 29, 2008, from the series "Listen"
Grande Ballroom, Detroit, MI, October 29, 2008, from the series "Listen"
Rhona Bitner
Date: October 29, 2008 (printed 2013)
Medium: Chromogenic print mounted on aluminum
Object number: 2014.3.1
© Rhona Bitner, ADAGP, Artists Rights Society, New York. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer W…
FAME Recording Studios, Muscle Shoals, AL, May 8, 2008, from
the “Listen” project, 2006-18
Rhona Bitner
Date: May 8, 2008
Medium: Fujiflex print
Object number: 2024.7.6
© Rhona Bitner, ADAGP, Artists Rights Society, New York. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer W…
First Church of Deliverance, Chicago, IL, September 18, 2008, from the “Listen” project, 2006–18
Rhona Bitner
Date: September 18, 2008
Medium: Fujiflex print
Object number: 2024.7.7
Photograph by John Bentham
Rancher, Montana
Arthur Rothstein
Date: c. 1938
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 2015.11.19
Marsh with Two Herons
Marsh with Two Herons
Clarence Joseph Tibado
Date: 1953
Medium: Pastel on paper
Object number: 1971.20
Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College, Clinton, NY. © R…
St. Andrews Hall, Detroit, MI, October 28, 2008, from the series "Listen"
Rhona Bitner
Date: October 28, 2008, printed 2013
Medium: Chromogenic print, mounted on aluminum
Object number: 2014.3.2
The Next Pardon in the Reform Farce, from "Harper's Weekly"
The Next Pardon in the Reform Farce, from "Harper's Weekly"
Thomas Nast
Date: published May 15, 1875
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.285
Moses Junior Viewing the Promised Land from Mount Ruin, from "Harper's Weekly"
Moses Junior Viewing the Promised Land from Mount Ruin, from "Harper's Weekly"
Thomas Nast
Date: published July 25, 1874
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.249
Photograph by John Bentham.
Florida Sunset on the Ocklawaha
William Henry Jackson
Date: published 1899
Medium: Photochrome
Object number: 2006.3
Photo by John Bentham.
Heat exhaustion, from the series "Conversations with the Dead"
Danny Lyon
Date: 1968 (printed 2011)
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 2014.7.26
Image Not Available for Now Begins the Rub, from "The Daily Graphic"
Now Begins the Rub, from "The Daily Graphic"
Thomas Nast
Date: published August 27, 1883
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 1944.1.15
Artwork is in the public domain. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton…
Fragment of a relief from the Northwest Palace at Nimrud
Date: c. 883-859 BCE
Medium: Gypsum with remnants of red pigment
Object number: 1868.5