An array of dramatic and powerful pieces created by former and current prison inmates is now on exhibit at the Olin library lobby. The artwork that will be up for the next few weeks raises themes such as STD awareness and AIDS education. WesPREP (Wesleyan Prisoner Resource and Education Project) brought the exhibition of paintings and sculptures to campus with the help of two non-profit groups, Concerned Citizens for Humanity and Community Partners in Action.
Paul Blackman, who also goes by the name Danny Killion, is the featured artist. He has been an inmate at the Osborn Correctional Facility for the past eight years, and his work consists of graphic paintings and sculptures. Also featured is the artwork done by various incarcerated children that promotes STD education.
Jeffrey Greene, who served as the art show curator, came to Wesleyan for the art opening that took place last Thursday. Greene has taught art classes in Connecticut prisons for several years through the Community Partners in Action Prison Arts program.
“Paul (Blackman) is out of his mind with excitement,” Greene said at the opening, gesturing at Blackman’s sculptures. “When you’re living in a vacuum with no contact with the outside world, you just want an opportunity to communicate. Paul has really been doing more work with ballpoint pens and paper, but lately he’s been sewing uniforms for fifty cents an hour in prison, so he has no time for big sculptures.”
Rebecca Boyden, head of Community Partners in Action, spoke of the harsh conditions for prisoners wanting to create art. She emphasized the importance the art show has for the prison inmates.
“Art is an important exploratory form for people who’ve never had affirmation before, who’ve always expressed themselves through brutality and crime,” she said. “We’re looking forward to working more with WesPREP after this excellent collaboration.”
Ultimately, WesPREP’s main goal is to not only bring prison issues to campus, like with this art display, but also to implement college-in-prison programs in Connecticut prisons by collaborating further with these non-profit organizations. By next year, WesPREP plans to transform itself into a non-profit group, called Principle Eleven, and will continue working on creating awareness of crime and prison issues.
“We’re not radicals,” said Makenna Goodman ’07, one of WesPREP’s core members and chief organizer of the art exhibition. “We believe education is a human right, and prisoners are human beings. Right now, we’re working on bringing Wesleyan professors to Connecticut prisons, to teach classes that inmates can take for credit.”
While the art display may be interesting and informative for Wesleyan students to observe as they stroll in and out of Olin, the HIV-themed pieces of art created by incarcerated children had larger goals in mind.
“Ultimately, the juvenile art display was created in order to have kids in prison educate their peers in other high schools about STDs,” said Darrell Decker, head of Concerned Citizens for Humanity. “It’s all about the participatory component. Everyone comes away having won something.”
Professor of Religion Janice Willis is also beginning to collaborate with WesPREP. Willis has been teaching meditation and self esteem workshops in York Correctional Institution since 2000. She saw the art show as an important opportunity for more Wesleyan students to become involved with WesPREP’s efforts.
“The women I’ve taught in York are so articulate and sharp,” Willis said. “They’re up there with Wesleyan students. They’re smart women who’ve made wrong choices. It’s good to see WesPREP members volunteering weekly to teach workshops. You really come out of there feeling accomplished.”
The Prison Art Show is on display in the Olin Lobby until April 26. Students can study the artwork, pick up informational brochures about the U.S. prison system, and even write comments to the artists themselves.
Follow up projects from WesPREP will include speeches from Matt Brenner of the University of Massachusetts on April 14, and Tina Reynolds, former prison inmate who gave birth in prison, on April 28.With its growing momentum, WesPREP and affiliates expressed the need for more student involvement.
“There are 21,000 prisoners coming in and out of facilities in Connecticut,” Decker said. The door’s always open for a ton of need that has to be meet. But any help will help move the equation down the field.“
Leave a Reply