Artspace worked in collaboration with New Haven-based painter Titus Kaphar to develop the historical, educational, and curatorial aspects of the show. The basis of “Arresting Patterns” was inspired by the themes of Kaphar's series “The Jerome Project”. “The Jerome Project” started when Kaphar searched the name of his father within the U.S prison system and found 99 incarcerated African American men with the same name. To respond to this stark visual example of the mass incarceration of black men, Kaphar recreated the mugshots of these men in the Byzantine icon style of Saint Jerome. “Arresting Patterns” included work by Jamal Cyrus, Maria Gaspar, Lauri Jo Reynolds, Dread Scott, Iyaba Ibo Mandingo, Adrian Piper, and Andy Warhol. A New Haven adaptation of the Jerome Project featured works from eighteen high school students from New Haven Public Schools who also collaborated with Kaphar and theater artists Dexter Singleton and Aaron Jafferis on a performance element.