San Quentin lost a valued member of the community on May 8. Teacher, multimedia artist and friend to many behind the walls of San Quentin, Rene Garcia Jr. passed away.
Garcia was born on July 9, 1973, and leaves behind his wife, Holly, two young children and a mother and sister who live in Arizona.
Best known outside the walls of San Quentin for his glitter paintings that capture pop culture at its best, Garcia was seen as just one of the guys in the art studio.
Garcia broke down the walls of prisoners he worked with by digging in and getting his hands dirty. It was a common site to see him with his hands covered in clay or glue and a smile on his face. He had a unique ability to make the same art material that they use in kindergarten cool and fun for grown men with egos that can sometimes be larger than life.
“As an instructor for the Monday arts class, Rene was an inspiration. As a person, he was even more than an inspiration. None of us are perfect, but Rene inspired us to perfect our craft,” said one of his students, Mark Stanley-Bey.
Garcia started coming to visit the San Quentin art studio about a year and half ago as a volunteer. Seeing that he was a natural fit with the artists in the studio, the William James Association eventually hired him as an artist in residence for the Prison Arts Project, and he taught an afternoon class every Monday.
“When I met Rene several years ago, I knew he and his wife, Holly, had always been avid collectors of inmate art – even her wedding ring was bought at a prison hobby craft shop in Arizona – and that he might be interested in teaching at San Quentin. But in his typical way, he didn’t push or even bring it up. He was very happy when the Prison Arts Project was able to hire some new instructors, and we were thrilled to invite him to apply,” said Carol Newborg, program manager of the San Quentin Prison Arts Program.
Garcia taught the men to work with everything from paint and canvas to glue and cardboard.
“I called Rene the Sparkle Artist because his stuff always sparkled when I looked at it. He pushed me to make clay sculpture and suggested that I use a lot of different objects to sculpt, like paper clips and toothpicks. He was an all-around Bonaru dude,” said Fred Tinsley.
Recently Garcia began working on a new project in the studio. He had a vision of creating a graphic novel with the men so that they could tell their stories.
Typical of Garcia’s laid-back style, he was willing to let the men be in control of the project as far as deciding which stories would be told, and only offering his advice in the way of keeping the project on track.
“Rene was a nice guy that never would criticize you. He just watched what you were doing and would be supportive. It bothers me that we never got the graphic novel project off the ground before he passed away. We were just starting, and then his life got taken. It is sad, and it reminds me that life is fragile,” said Gerald Morgan.
The last time Garcia taught a class in San Quentin he passed around a project schedule for the graphic novel.
“He wasn’t like the normal artist that came in because of the mediums he used, which inspired me. The graphic novel project was awesome to me because it is something that I have been interested in my whole time in prison. He wanted us to stay away from the cliché of prison, and that pushed me to get out of the institutional thinking that you can get stuck in while you’re here,” said Justus Evans.
It is evident to the men who knew him that Garcia supported the artist in his class and the whole population at San Quentin. “On the Day of Peace, an event that is held in honor of peace once a year in San Quentin, Rene and I walked down to the yard from the art center. We walked around the yard and looked at the art some of the guys created. He was just really interested in the whole lay of the land and where some of us spent our days,” said Nicola Bucci. “We approached the chalk art area, and I told him I thought I would do something with a chicken on it, and he told me about his friend that always put chickens in his art, and they always sold.” Bucci won first place that day.
Garcia left early that day because he had to get home to celebrate his son’s birthday. That was the kind of guy he was. He recognized the importance of the day for the men inside San Quentin and wanted to be there with them even though it was an important day for his family outside.
“Rene was passionate about his family because he spoke about them a lot. We shared a passion for Star Wars, and he confided in me that he did some work on one of the movies. Before he died, we were discussing his desire about writing an article about living the Jedi code in prison. I just want to remind his family there is no death; there is the force,” said Christopher Christensen.
Garcia’s death has had a huge impact on the artists who worked with him. Sentiments of disbelief and grief were expressed among men who considered themselves as his peers even though they are locked behind the walls of a prison. Talk in the art studio has centered around continuing the graphic novel project he started to honor his memory.
Program manager Newborg expressed sentiments that every one that knew him shared. “He told me that getting out of his studio and working collaboratively at the San Quentin studio had really enriched his life and art, and he was always very excited about the work the inmate artists were doing. He will be sorely missed, and the inmate artists will honor his memory with art yet to be developed.”