All Articles: Arts

By Rahsaan Thomas The CEO of a major podcasting network, along with other executives, took an eventful trip from the East Coast to meet with the incarcerated men who defeated more than 1,500 entries from 53 countries in a storytelling contest. PRX CEO Kerri Hoffman and Radiotopia Executive Producer Julie Shapiro entered San Quentin State […]

By Rahsaan Thomas A group of incarcerated men with no architectural experience, created design ideas for a better America that were displayed in a museum overlooking New York’s Central Park. “It’s surreal. It’s something to be proud of,” said Noah Wright, one of the four incarcerated designers of the Genesis Project. “Sitting in here, you […]

By Juan Haines Teachers and aides with the Prison University Project, at San Quentin, along with inmates and prison staffers, roared with laughter on Dec. 30 to a sing-along spoof of the Twelve Days of Christmas by Alex Brigg. The parody made fun of police harassment as the audience chimed in with, “On the Fifth […]

By Juan Haines A diverse troupe of men, dressed as usual in prison blue, broke away from the everyday constraints of incarceration through the artistic expression of dance and dialogue. San Quentin’s Artistic Ensemble put on its latest performance in the prison’s Protestant Chapel on Nov. 18 for an audience of about 150 that included […]

By Marcus Henderson In reality TV show fashion, San Quentin residents demonstrated they “got talent,” at the Third Annual Talent and Karaoke event, sponsored by the San Quentin Music Program. As the Lower Yard filled, about 150 people crowded around a makeshift stage to be treated to ’80s-style music by former Club Nouveau member, now […]

By Wesley Eisiminger San Quentin artists say they enjoy beautifying the prison with their talents. Their latest project is to create 16 huge mural panels for one of the prison’s dining halls. Each panel measures 7 feet high and 4 feet wide. The finished mural will be 64 feet long. “I’ve been at San Quentin […]

By Tommy Winfrey For most incarcerated individuals, prison is a difficult place to leave. But for a group of 20 men on San Quentin’s Death Row, a part of them made it over the walls of the prison and all the way to an art gallery in London. Between Friday, June 24, and Wednesday, July […]

By Marcus Henderson The Spirit of Freedom II rock concert on The Lower Yard aimed to provide healing through music and it hit the target. The group Continuum rocked out with original music like “Make You Move,” a gritty song about making a woman dance to the music. Lyrics like, “I want to be there; […]

By Marcus Henderson The San Quentin Music Program put on a Juneteenth Celebration on the Lower Yard this year. Juneteenth is the celebration of the final slaves being freed from Texas in 1865, two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. “This was a wonderful stress reliever,” said spectator Charles Ross. “It’s a […]