Inmate Art Exhibition Simulates Prison's Cell-Sized Life

Talking to the curators of 'Art Transports Us Out of Bounds: Prison Arts in San Diego.

July 18, 2015, 1:30pm

The sketches and sculptures of California’s inmate artists crowd the corners of Art Transports Us Out of Bounds: Prison Arts in San Diego’s cell-sized room at the Oceanside Museum of Art. The works were culled from an eight month-session of the Arts-in-Correction program Project PAINT (The Prison Arts INiTiative) at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, peeling back the stigma of their creators’ condition in displays of remarkable resourcefulness and staggering imagery.

Beyond the 108 square feet of Art Transports Us Out of Bounds’s walls the polemic of United States’ prisons has reached a peak. Putting aside recent prison breaks —domestic and abroad — and disturbing revelations of detention center conditions, even inmate art programs have induced outrage.

Art Transports Us Out of Bounds, on the other hand, symbolizes an effort to catalyze productive discussions about the daily life and reform of state detention centers. Curators Tara Centybear, Laura Pecenco, and Kathleen Mitchell make the installation more simulation than exhibition, capitalizing on the fortuitous setback of their spatially restricted exhibition room. Interspersed with prison bars and cautionary yellow tape, the show takes the visitor through the paces of prison life — from a spoof sign-in book to a recording of the incessant murmur of prison noises, playing on repeat.

The Creators Project talked with curators Laura Pecenco, a founder of Project PAINT, and artist Kathleen Mitchell about the show, prison art programs, and the inspiring outcomes of incarcerated creativity.

The Creators Project: Tell me about the genesis for the show.

Laura Peceno: I wanted to start the program because I was working on my dissertation, which is about men who create art while incarcerated […] The exhibition took shape because we had been able to launch 32-week classes at the prison. We started off with this mobile mural project, which was when we were officially a volunteer organization. Then, the Department of Corrections announced that it was going to launch a pilot program of Arts-In-Correction […] So, that really allowed us to launch this really large-scale drawing painting and sculpting class and that gave us the material to use in the exhibition.

Kathleen Mitchel: We threw out this idea [to the California Arts Council] that we were going to do this exhibition in a museum. It went through some ups and downs but finally, it did happen. They gave us this very very very tiny gallery, which is only 9 feet by 12 feet and, in talking about how we were going to make this an impactful event for people, we decided to scale it down even smaller, creating a space within a space that is virtually the same dimensions of a cell that two grown men live in.

What makes the exhibition immersive?

Kathleen: The first thing we did was we covered the walls with some of their sketches and some of their little assignments that we would do — like contour drawings, 15-minute [exercises]. It made it more claustrophobic. We put up fake bars that, again, made it more claustrophobic. Then we covered the bars with some other work.

Laura: We tried to incorporate some other elements as well, so the entire space is a very dark grey, which is what prisons look like. Then we also tried to replicate some of the features of the prison as well. So, for example, we used yellow tape, which indicates areas that are out-of-bounds for inmates […] and we have those strategically placed in the exhibition as well, just to delineate space so that people start to get that feeling. We also tried to incorporate small elements from how prisoners themselves use those spaces.

One example is that we hung up their postcards, that they call kites, [which is] how inmates pass notes to each other: its about communication and we wanted to tie that to postcards and any type of communication with the outside world. Also, thinking about communication inside the prison walls. Each one has a comb tied to the bottom of it and this is because that's actually something that's used as a weight at the bottom of the kite to be able to pass notes (they call it “going fishing”) from one cell to the next.

Kathleen: Instead of object labels, we made 8.5” x 11” sheets of paper that had the verbiage that an object label would have but it also had the California Department of Corrections logo on it and it said ‘announcement’ at the top. Because, when you go into the facility, the bulletin boards are peppered with [all kinds of announcements]. We also did a looping soundtrack of prison noises so that people would experience the fact that it's just never quiet there. There's always noise: whether it's keys or doors or constant chatter.

Can you expand on this theme of communication which you mentioned earlier?

Laura: I think art is certainly how [the inmates] communicate with the outside world. In terms of even just getting their artwork viewed and getting the public out to see it— that is so wonderful. One of the other elements that we really wanted to incorporate is a “visitor log-in book.” Every time that we go into the prison, we have to sign something stating what time we’re going in, what time we got out. So we wanted to use our sign-in book so that museum goers could actually communicate with the artists: and it’s working out so well. The comments are absolutely amazing. [….] Last week, I brought in some of the comments to the participants and they were so excited about it. They are constantly asking us for feedback and asking about what people on the outside “like” in terms of art.

Describe one of your favorite pieces from the show.

Laura: One piece is a shadow box. We had these cardboard shelves, which are shaped like bookshelves and each of the artists went in really different directions and came up with really amazing things. One of them, is this entire doll house and it’s constructed out of sheets of balsa wood that he cut down. He made actual characters —little dolls— to go inside of it. It opens up […] It’s just so intricate and so well put together. Every time I look at it, I see something new. He used really inventive materials.

Kathleen: I would say my favorite project (aside from the project Laura just described) was the metaphorical self-portraits. I will never forget the first night we were introduced to the project and one of the inmates just threw his pencil down and said, ‘Nope, nope. This is about introspection and I don’t do introspection.’ By the end of the project, he was so wrapped up in it and spent so much time [on his portrait]. The work these guys did on these metaphorical self-portraits, just boggles the mind. There are three of them that I would love to hang in my home.

What are metaphorical self-portraits?

Kathleen: [The participants] were to create [drawings of] shoulders and heads — but [the drawings] were not to be self-portraits. We brainstormed on words that meant something to them, how they would describe themselves. They had to sit down and write 50 words quickly and then they took those words, [and we asked them], ‘How would you give a visual clue to that word?’

A lot of them, in their pieces, drew clocks — among other things. One of them drew a marionette type of doll that had its mouth sealed over —expressing that he felt like he had no voice and that he was just a puppet in the system.

What was the general attitude of participants in the workshops?

Kathleen: Well, one of the things that Laura introduced was, at the end of each class, she has a question for them to think about over the week and write about. Then, at the beginning of the next class, we have a little meeting and people respond. And over and over and over again, they expressed how comfortable they are in this room and, you can see it. There aren’t racial boundaries like there are out on the yard. Everyone gets along with one another. It’s a very calm environment.

Laura: And I think you get to see that in the exhibition too. We wanted to incorporate their writing with their art so that people could get this glimpse in. So many of the participants responses are fascinating. You can really see them go through this process of perhaps being a little skeptical about a project—as Kathleen mentioned, someone said, ‘I don’t do introspection’ and then ended up making this amazing, really reflective piece. And, you can read about it in his writing. He is almost chronicling how he ended up with the concept and how he ended up really enjoying the whole project, even though it was a struggle at the beginning for them.

How have you seen art initiatives in prisons change since you began PAINT?

Laura: When we first started going in — and when I first wanted to work in an art program and start an art program —California had just recently cut all funding to prison arts program. So I was coming in at this time that I had heard about this long history of Arts-In-Corrections, that it had been really thriving; that it was in every prison in California; they had full-time artists facilitators at each of the prisons. But then I came in at a time when there were pretty much just volunteer programs scattered around the state.

It’s been really miraculous, then, to come in, start this mural project, and then just a few months later have the state announce that it was going to refund Arts-In-Corrections. Since then, it's been progressing even more.