Cover
story Prison Creations
By NANCY HAND
Special to the National Catholic Reporter
In some ways, Tom Baxter was the
honored alumnus asked to return to give the main address. Only in his case, the
school was prison, and the event was the opening of the Michigan Prison
Creative Art Projects fifth annual prisoner art exhibit.
This was the first time Baxter was not participating in the show
as an artist, and the first year he could attend the exhibit. He was released
from prison eight months ago after more than 10 years inside.
The exhibit, Feb. 8-23 at the Rackham Galleries at the University
of Michigan, was the public expression of a program that has bucked a growing
national sentiment toward harsher sentencing and treatment of convicts.
Programs like the art project are running into growing opposition in the
Michigan legislature and from prison personnel who see that such activities are
running contrary to the aim of imprisonment.
Our fellow citizens
In prison, [art] was a way to escape the harsh realities,
because I paint landscapes, warm-feeling type landscapes and positive type
things, said Baxter, and it was a way to escape all the
negativities you hear everyday from both the other prisoners and the guards. It
was a way to release the hostilities and absorb myself into my art.
More than 200 works of art by 118 prison artists in 35 Michigan
prisons were displayed during this years exhibit. The exhibit has grown
every year since the first show in 1996. It now runs for two weeks and includes
a variety of speakers and workshops, including a demonstration and discussion
on prison theater practice, a reading by Bell Chevigny, editor of Doing
Time: 25 Years of Prison Writing, as well as discussions on the death
penalty, parole issues and legal services for prisoners with children.
Baxter agreed to speak at the event because, he said, it was
a chance to educate, to tell the public that there are people in prison that
have worth and talent and something to say to try to break down the
stereotypes.
Prison rule in Michigan barred access to interview inmates who had
participated in the art show.
For University of Michigan art professor and prison art project
volunteer teacher, Ann Savageau, challenging stereotypes is an important aspect
of the annual show. It shows the public that people in prisons are not
different from ourselves. They are ourselves. Theyre our fellow citizens.
Their stories, personalities, dreams and aspirations are as varied as
anybodys on the outside.
This is a first step, says Savageau, in changing attitudes.
You can only be punitive when you see the person who is in prison as
being other than you are, and you can only have compassion for people when you
see them as being similar to you.
In addition to the annual exhibit, the Prison Creative Art Project
offers theater, writing and art workshops in prisons throughout the state. The
project was founded in 1990 by Buzz Alexander, also a University of Michigan
professor. The first workshops were in theater. Writing and visual arts
workshops were added as the project evolved and began to attract more volunteer
instructors with diverse interests.
In 1996 University of Michigan professor and artist Janie Paul had
the idea to try a prison art exhibit. Ive always been involved in
trying to make art accessible to people who are marginalized or who dont
think of themselves as artists, said Paul, who was involved in art
projects with inner-city children and with patients in a psychiatric hospital
in New York before moving to Michigan.
Art is a basic human need and something that everyone should
have experience with, said Paul. Some people are excluded from
having that experience because our educational system doesnt provide it
or because they are marginalized in some way. Paul also teaches a
community service art class at the university in which art students become art
teachers in the prison workshops.
Alexander, the art projects founder, said that prison
officials are generally supportive of the programs. We are highly
disciplined when we go into prisons, he said. All art program
instructors, who currently number over 40, must go through extensive training
before they begin teaching. We are very clear that we are obeying every
rule and regulation of the prison, said Alexander. We are
respectful of everyone there, prisoners and staff alike, and theyre
always very responsive. Were friendly, polite. We bring a good spirit
into the prison with us. That is generally very appreciated by the prisoners
and the staff, whose jobs are not easy.
Good for security
Beth Tuckerman, corrections program coordinator at Adrian [Mich.]
Temporary Facility, where the art program has both theater and writing
programs, agrees. Anything we can do to keep the guys busy and keep them
occupied is always good for safety and security, she said. If we
didnt have activities for these guys to do, it would make the jobs of the
corrections officers much more difficult.
There are those among Michigans lawmakers, however, who
would like to see such programs ended. The political atmosphere in Michigan is
increasingly punitive toward its nearly 45,000 prisoners. Michigan has passed
several laws in recent years increasing prison sentences and reducing the
possibility of parole. One of the most controversial and hard-line of those
laws is the 650/lifer law, which dictates a mandatory life sentence with no
possibility of parole for anyone convicted of possession of 650 or more grams
of cocaine or heroine. That law was recently softened to allow some possibility
of parole, but the restrictive climate shows no sign of abating.
Prison administrators are attempting to have more control of
our content, said Alexander, probably because of pressure from
conservative legislators, who dont want programs.
But no dancing
In addition to the theater, writing and art workshops, the program
formerly offered dance workshops in one facility, until prison administrators
suspended them, citing security concerns stemming from the possibility of
inmates touching. Alexander wrote a letter assuring prison officials the type
of dance used in the program did not include touch, but prison administrators
refused to yield or to give any further explanation. Dance is a lot of
movement, said Alexander. Its very expressive, very free. In
some way it runs contrary to confinement.
The Prison Creative Art Program recently produced its 100th play
in Michigan prisons. The project has now produced a total of 104 plays in 16
state prisons, many of them in womens facilities. The plays are performed
for audiences of over 200 prisoners and a few guests. All of the plays,
except two, have been collective creations by the women or men in the
workshop, said Alexander.
The way we work is through improvisation. We never have a
script. Its improvised right up to the end, with the exception of
one case, in which prison officials insisted on seeing a script, he said.
The themes are extremely positive, said Alexander.
Somebody gets out of prison and struggles to make good, or a community
thats having troubles or a family thats having troubles and the
play moves toward reconstitution. Thats a very important theme for
people. Its very affirmative. A play might be about how to get out of a
gang, things like that. Its wonderful where they get to and what they
offer other prisoners.
While the purpose of the workshops is to give people a
chance to grow through creation, Alexander also gets a lot out of them.
He loves to teach, and teaching in the prisons is one of the best experiences
he has had. Prisoners are on the whole better students, he said.
Theyre hungry for learning. Theyre very eager, vital and
energetic. They engage at a level that in most classes at the university
doesnt happen. The people who choose to take the workshops are hungry for
knowledge and hungry to use their time in a different way. Im a lucky
teacher. I get great students. There are extremely talented musicians, dancers,
actors, writers and artists in prison. Its remarkable to work with these
people.
Paul, too, gets a lot out of her prison workshops. Its
inspiring to see art being produced in an extreme situation because it kind of
makes you see what art really is. You see the power of the human spirit coming
through in a situation where people are really desperate to find some means of
expression, she said.
For Savageau, teaching in the prisons is a type of ministry.
I think running a workshop with people who are so marginalized is really
a way of putting the gospel into practice, she said. Visiting the
prisons is what Jesus taught us to do.
Savageau originally agreed to teach for only one month during the
summer. Paul asked her to take over a workshop run by students during the
school year, at the request of the prisoners, who didnt want to go the
entire summer without art. But Savageau ended up teaching the whole summer and
then became a regular instructor.
I really didnt know what to expect when I went into
the prison, said Savageau. I didnt know how I would be
received and what the interactions would be like. Ive always been
pleasantly surprised at the warm reception we get and the warm interactions.
They are very polite and respectful to us, so those things have all made the
experience a very positive one.
Baxter believes the positive interaction with people from the
outside is an important benefit of the programs. It shows that there are
people out there in society who actually do care about whats going on
inside. A lot of these guys are really good people. Theyve done something
wrong, but theyre still really good people. They still have worth, and
[the instructors] are recognizing that. Its a lonely place in there, and
a little improvement means a lot.
Preparing for life outside
According to Alexander, programs like the Prison Creative Art
Program can help prepare people for life outside. Theres definite
evidence that higher education in prison puts the recidivism rate way
down, he said. Its helpful to people who want to stay
out.
Baxter agreed. It has motivated me to pursue an art
career, he said. Before it was just something I did when I was in
prison to make a little extra money. Just being accepted into the show and
being judged was part of the experience. It was a good motivator and something
I probably wouldnt have pursued otherwise.
The show has had a pretty tremendous effect on the artists
in prison, said Paul. You can see the growth and development of the
artists. A lot of them really work all year for the show.
Part of the art programs mission is to raise awareness about
prison issues in general. Weve incarcerated over 2 million people
in this country, said Alexander. Thats a higher percentage of
our population than any other country. That shouldnt be in a country like
ours, which is so affluent. I believe its a policy and practice that
needs to be changed. It feels wrong to me, and Id like to be part of what
turns it around.
National Catholic Reporter, March 17,
2000
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