For the last two years, the Day of Peace committee has brought art to the San Quentin yard.
On April 25 artists created acrylic paintings on canvas board to display their ideas of peace. Each painting was dedicated to a self-help group or program at San Quentin.
Some artists painted while out on the yard, which added an artsy vibe to the music from live bands. Others painted their works of art in the week leading up to the event.
Six of the paintings were actually finished on the yard by the open-air artists.
Although rain was predicted on the day of the event, the weather held off long enough for these six artists to do their magic.
All of the art supplies were provided by the Day of Peace committee, which is funded by outside donations.
Jun Hamamoto supervised the artists while they worked in the studio.
The easels for displaying the artwork were built by Duane Holt and Tony Passer in the Vocational Building Maintenance program. “I made them out of reclaimed wood to be green and be in alignment with the Day of Peace message,” said Holt.
This year’s art was more dynamic, and the talent level has increased. “I thought the art wasn’t so much like poster art as it was last year. I think the artistic talent was better displayed,” said Danny Plunkett, treasurer of the Day of Peace.
“I could tell the artists were putting their heart into their work. It was nice to see people contributing to the day,” said Joseph Marquez, viewing the art.
Artist Antwan Williams allowed visitors and inmates to add to his painting by placing their thumbs covered in either White or red paint on his Ted X creation. The result was a canvas covered in inspirational thoughts surrounded by the prison community’s thumbprints.
The day also featured a chalk art contest. Third place winner, Carlos Flores, won for his representation of a peace sign exploding out of the depths of nothingness. He said. “I can’t believe I won anything. I feel honored.”
Close to 20 people entered the chalk art competition, and Nicola Bucci won first place with his depiction of a bird on a peace sign. Bucci received a set of colored pencils and drawing paper for his winning piece.
All of the paintings were donated to the Day of Peace and will be auctioned off by Mindful Peace Building, a nonprofit that sponsors the Day of Peace. Proceeds from the auction will help fund next year’s Day of Peace, according to committee member Plunkett.
“It was my responsibility to organize the art this year, and I tried to find artists to represent the groups because I think art is a big component of the day,” said Plunkett.
He went on to say that as a committee, they try to create a space for the event, but it is up to the population to establish the mood of the day.
“Art definitely helped to create the mood this year,” confirmed Plunkett.
Bruce Fowler painted a plane dropping a peace bomb on San Quentin for the Veteran’s Group. “I am happy if the painting brought a moment of joy to anybody who saw it,” said Fowler.
“The art becomes part of the landscape, and it makes people feel like they’re not in prison for the day,” said Plunkett.
By the of end this Day of Peace, there were 21 paintings either finished or in process of being finished.
