In San Francisco, a city known for its artistic and cultural diversity, two unique art exhibits in the city’s public library displayed dozens of works created by incarcerated artists and drew positive reviews from the public. From June 15 through September 1, the exhibits, On the Line and Book Art from Arts-in-Corrections, showcased artwork created by prisoners.
The exhibit was sponsored by the William James Association, a non-profit organization that administers a variety of artistic workshops within the confines of the state’s oldest penal institution through a program called the Prison Arts Project.
The project was born after a group of incarcerated artists in the state prison at Vacaville voiced their desire to have an art program in the prison. That call was answered by a collaborative of supporters and spearheaded by the William James Association, which then established the project in 1977.
Seeing its many benefits, the model was adopted by the Department of Corrections and established as a statewide Arts-in-Corrections program in each of the state’s prisons. In 2004 funding for the program was lost due to budget cuts.
On August 3, 2013, an audience of more than a 100 people gathered in the San Francisco library’s auditorium to hear about the history and impact of the arts in California’s prison system. Formerly incarcerated artists, Michael deVries, Ronnie Goodman, Rolf Kissman and Felix Lucero were on the panel addressing the audience, along with Steve Emrick, San Quentin’s Community Partnerships Manager, professional photographer Peter Merts and Professor Larry Brewster, PhD, from the University of San Francisco.
Michael deVries spent 26 years in prison. He found art had something to offer him that he could not find elsewhere in prison: meaningful self-expression and service. “Steve [Emrick] pointed out the value of service to me,” said deVries, who adopted the philosophy of service by donating much of his art to outside causes.
Another formerly incarcerated artist, Ronnie Goodman, now works as an advocate for the homeless in San Francisco. Goodman described himself as a person who was seeking to change his life after he was imprisoned. He found that change through art. “I struggled with drugs and alcohol and needed something to replace that,” he said. “My art is about my life, my struggles and my change,” said Goodman. Today Goodman donates his art to foundations that support the mentally ill and the homeless.
Felix Lucero was sentenced to life in prison at the age of 16. “I was out of control,” said Lucero, who spent five years in segregation for misbehavior. A youthful offender in an adult prison, Lucero had a lot of anger and resentment towards others. Then Arts-in-Corrections came into his life. It opened up “endless ways to express yourself,” he said.
The contrast between the prison yard, where violence and racism were commonplace, and the art classes, where integration and harmony prevailed, was compelling for Lucero. “We were like family,” he said. “Art was almost secondary at times to the relationships and friendships created there.”
The draw of relationships in the art program was a common theme among the panelists. “I felt like I was leaving the prison,” said Rolf Kissman, describing his time in art classes. Kissman liked the “camaraderie” he found there as well as his ability to create works of art that he could send home that would allow his loved ones to “feel” what he was going through behind bars.
Peter Merts, who has extensively documented art programs in California prisons through his photography, found they “bridge the racial divide, teach the students about giving back and help them acquire a sense of self-worth.” According to Merts, “There was always harmony and unity in the art studio.” You can view Merts’ work at www.petermerts.com.
Several studies looking at the benefits of art programs have already found prisoners who participate in them are less violent and more likely to follow the rules and succeed on parole.
Professor Larry Brewster, PhD, from the University of San Francisco said preliminary data from a new study show “significant differences,” such as increased self-confidence, emotional control and problem solving, between art participants and a control group.
During one emotional moment, Emrick, who worked many years as an artist facilitator for the Arts-in-Corrections program, spoke about the pleasure of seeing his former students’ success. “To see men [on the outside] who thought they would never be released is a great reward to me,” he said.
“San Quentin is fortunate to have donor funding” to maintain its art programs, said Emrick. Today, the William James Association continues the legacy it began in 1977 by offering art programs to prisoners at San Quentin.
Other art programs the William James Association sponsors at San Quentin include Shakespeare, piano, guitar, an open studio for music, drawing and painting, printmaking and an annual publication of literary art called Brothers in Pen.
Today, there is a growing movement to revive the arts programs in California’s prison system. The William James Association, California Arts Council and California Lawyers for the Arts are working to illuminate the need for more art programs. To learn more, go to the William James Association’s website at www.williamsassociation.
