The Returning Artists Guild (RAG) is an abolitionist guild of directly-impacted practicing artists across Ohio, and beyond.

Aimee Wissman and Kamisha Thomas formally co-founded the RAG in 2018, after their respective releases. They wanted to continue the therapeutic, creative community that they found “inside.” Both are multidisciplinary, social practice artists and single mothers, who believe that their artistic talents and energy are best spent building a platform for artists like themselves and investing in a free future for everyone. The work that led to the RAG began inside Dayton Correctional Institution in 2015, when Aimee, Kamisha, and other artists, developed an art therapy program and discovered the transformative power of the arts to heal and give voice to women who were locked in mental and emotional cages long before being incarcerated physically. Those years of art therapy built a strong foundation for the leadership, community building, peer-driven, and holistic approach of the RAG. The original guild members stem from that art therapy group, and membership has grown to include other artists who had served time in various institutions across Ohio, and nationally. 

Through RAG artists’ performances, artworks, and storytelling, these exhibitions and events have helped audiences gain a better understanding of the prison industrial complex, its direct impact on so many people, and the distinction between prison abolition and prison reform movements.