"Visiting Uncle Andy"
Artist E.D. Taylor Explores Ripple Effect of Crime with Eastern State Penitentiary-Commissioned Installation
Visiting Uncle Andy weaves together family memories and court records to reflect on the impact of Taylor’s uncle’s conviction as a “Mentally Disordered Sex Offender”
Philadelphia, PA (April 13, 2023) -- Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site has commissioned artist E.D. Taylor to create a site-specific installation for its 2023 season. Through a series of dioramas and artifacts, the artist reflects on a childhood visit with her Uncle Andy that took place following his confinement to California’s Atascadero State Hospital as a “Mentally Disordered Sex Offender.” Taylor’s work, titled Visiting Uncle Andy at Atascadero State Hospital (a maximum-security forensic facility), 1981," or simply Visiting Uncle Andy debuts at Eastern State Penitentiary on Friday, May 5, 2023, and remains on view through the end of the year.
On June 20, 1980, Andy, a seventh-grade teacher, was involuntarily committed to Atascadero State Hospital, an all-male psychiatric institution in California. He served seven years there for sexually assaulting at least two pre-pubescent boys who attended the K-12 school where he worked. The artist and her family visited Andy at Atascadero first in 1981 and again in 1983. Andy’s name has been changed to protect the identities of all parties involved.
E.D. Taylor’s installation weaves her and her family’s fragmented memories together with facts gleaned from court documents. Visitors to the historic site enter a cell to view the installation; they are invited to look through a series of three peepholes inset into historic cell doors. Inside, dioramas depict the artist’s memories of trips to Atascadero State Hospital to visit her uncle during his incarceration there. Display cases on both sides of the cell hold various artifacts relating to Uncle Andy’s life, arrest, and conviction, including yearbook photos, redacted court records, and Taylor's musings about Andy's downfall.
“This installation is about where my uncle’s life intersects with mine. It’s about how events reverberate through time,” says E.D. Taylor. “It’s also about the tension between what we remember and what really happened. It’s about the way crime impacts victims, perpetrators, and family members. And, finally, it’s about forgiveness.”
“We are honored that E.D. considered Eastern State Penitentiary a fitting backdrop for such a deeply personal, but also universally thought-provoking installation,” says Sean Kelley, Eastern State Penitentiary’s senior vice president. “At Eastern State, we invite all our visitors to consider the ways their lives intersect with the criminal justice system. This story presents another avenue to consider the ripple effects of crime. We look forward to the difficult but important conversations this piece will encourage here at Eastern State.”
E.D. Taylor’s Visiting Uncle Andy debuts to the public on Friday, May 5, 2023, after a private reception the evening before. The work is available during daytime tours as well as "Night Tours: Summer Twilight," and will remain on view through the end of the year.
Artist installations are included with admission to Eastern State Penitentiary. Other standard programs, including “The Voices of Eastern State” Audio Tour, guide-led Hands-On History tours, and history exhibits, are also included with admission. Tickets are available online at www.EasternState.org or at the door, subject to availability.
Press Preview: Thursday, May 4, 11:00 a.m. Members of the media are invited to preview Visiting Uncle Andy on Thursday, May 4 at 11:00 a.m. Light refreshments will be served. Interview opportunities will be available with artist E.D. Taylor and with Eastern State Senior Vice President Sean Kelley. Please RSVP to Nicole Frankhouser at nf@easternstate.org by Tuesday, May 2.
About the artist
E.D. Taylor's mixed-media work has been exhibited across the United States and in Montreal. Taylor says, "It started when I was 3 years old and allowed to look through a coffee table book of Michelangelo’s sculpture and paintings. From then on, making art became a serious thing for me, up to and including clandestine crayon scribblings on my parents’ freshly painted walls. Having ultimately earned a Master of Fine Arts from Rhode Island School of Design, I keep at it.”
