Opening reception of illustrations of Oscar Wilde’s The Ballad of Reading Gaol, at Freedom Tower at MDC Museum of Art + Design. Originally published in 1897, Oscar Wilde’s The Ballad of Reading Gaol details the execution of a fellow inmate at the HM Prison Reading and addresses the shame, dehumanization and brutality of incarceration and hard-labor sentences. For Wilde, who was convicted for “gross indecency” associated with his then-taboo homosexuality, the metaphysically-wrought experience left him a broken man. The works on display are on loan from The Wolfsonian-FIU and never-before shown to the public, highlighting the Symbolist style of French artist Jean-Georges Cornelius, the political legacy of Oscar Wildeâ€™s poem, and the process of early 20th century book-making. A Patch of Blue: Illustrations of Oscar Wilde’s The Ballad of Reading Gaol is curated by students in the Museum Studies Curatorial Practices course offered through Miami Dade College and New World School of the Arts.