This was a project brought together to fix up an unsightly corner in town. Through the group CIB, the town and the prison we were able to create a project that would make some change. The following is about my role and art therapy.
The first day I went in to meet the guys I'd be working with they were not so keen, but what other choose did they have it was me or more bench painting. So I had 5 guys and 6 murals to paint. Each mural was 8'x4' and
the inmates were going to be required to do everything from stretching canvas to priming and painting the images we had chosen.
Day 1: picking up and moving the boards to our working area, cutting and stretching canvas to boards, then priming.
Day 2/3: was using the overhead to project and copy images to the boards
Day 4: Painting lesson in grey scale. This was how the murals were to be done, old style black and white.
Day 5 and on:
Start painting the murals. This would now take the following 3 months to complete meeting one
day a week. At this time we were now down to 4 guys, one had been released. As the time passed
there would be a steady decline in the numbers due to circumstances, til I was working with one
inmate for the final month or so of the project.
In the beginning there was a fair bit of complaining by a couple of the guys, non interest on top
of just being lazy attributed to this. But again it was this or benches and if they did this it was an all
day gig. Interesting enough though as the murals started to come together there was more interest.
As time went by and the numbers had now dewindled down to 2 guys. The first was one of the
most uninterested but ended up being he largest changed. Whether it lasted I am not sure. The
change came in his interest in painting and he showed real talent. He had a style starting to show
and wasn't so caught up in me telling him how but more interested in ways of making the paint work
for him. He would actually lose himself to what he was painting in the day and now looked forward to
coming. He would eventually leave us but not before completing 2 out of the 6 and adding his touch
on others.
Now down to 1 guy and 4 murals in different stages, 2 of which had all 5 guys paint on them. The
other 2 were done completely by the remaining inmate. He had a an appreciation for art but
would tell me "I'm never gonna be an artist." and in the letter he gave me at the end of the project he
expressed that this had shown him different way to look at art. Also to see being creative in
your daily life as a way to express yourself in thinking and problem solving.
In the the process as we painted he would expressed his thoughts on music, prison life, life
before and after...dreams of what he'd do with himself when he had finished his sentence. He
would share his fustration with the area's he was painting and then we'd have to look at a solution.
In the end he and I finished up the remaining panels and and the we mounted on the corner
that spring. It was a great experience for me and I believe it did change some thoughts in each of
the inmates that participated. The hardest part of working in this area is the uncertainty of the
how long you have these guys for.
The first day I went in to meet the guys I'd be working with they were not so keen, but what other choose did they have it was me or more bench painting. So I had 5 guys and 6 murals to paint. Each mural was 8'x4' and
the inmates were going to be required to do everything from stretching canvas to priming and painting the images we had chosen.
Day 1: picking up and moving the boards to our working area, cutting and stretching canvas to boards, then priming.
Day 2/3: was using the overhead to project and copy images to the boards
Day 4: Painting lesson in grey scale. This was how the murals were to be done, old style black and white.
Day 5 and on:
Start painting the murals. This would now take the following 3 months to complete meeting one
day a week. At this time we were now down to 4 guys, one had been released. As the time passed
there would be a steady decline in the numbers due to circumstances, til I was working with one
inmate for the final month or so of the project.
In the beginning there was a fair bit of complaining by a couple of the guys, non interest on top
of just being lazy attributed to this. But again it was this or benches and if they did this it was an all
day gig. Interesting enough though as the murals started to come together there was more interest.
As time went by and the numbers had now dewindled down to 2 guys. The first was one of the
most uninterested but ended up being he largest changed. Whether it lasted I am not sure. The
change came in his interest in painting and he showed real talent. He had a style starting to show
and wasn't so caught up in me telling him how but more interested in ways of making the paint work
for him. He would actually lose himself to what he was painting in the day and now looked forward to
coming. He would eventually leave us but not before completing 2 out of the 6 and adding his touch
on others.
Now down to 1 guy and 4 murals in different stages, 2 of which had all 5 guys paint on them. The
other 2 were done completely by the remaining inmate. He had a an appreciation for art but
would tell me "I'm never gonna be an artist." and in the letter he gave me at the end of the project he
expressed that this had shown him different way to look at art. Also to see being creative in
your daily life as a way to express yourself in thinking and problem solving.
In the the process as we painted he would expressed his thoughts on music, prison life, life
before and after...dreams of what he'd do with himself when he had finished his sentence. He
would share his fustration with the area's he was painting and then we'd have to look at a solution.
In the end he and I finished up the remaining panels and and the we mounted on the corner
that spring. It was a great experience for me and I believe it did change some thoughts in each of
the inmates that participated. The hardest part of working in this area is the uncertainty of the
how long you have these guys for.
