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appendix: Prisoner art and the Work of Community Building Janie Paul, PCAP Art Exhibition Curator During the fifteen years of the Prison Creative Arts Project’s Annual Exhibitions of Art by Michigan Prisoners, more than 1,500 men and women from nearly fifty Michigan prisons have exhibited their work at the University of Michigan. Some artists have exhibited many times, evolving and perfecting their work over the years, knowing that once a year they will be honored and appreciated. The exhibitions offer ways for incarcerated artists to grow as thinkers and creators; just as important, the exhibitions create spaces where imprisoned artists enter the world and help to break down the stereotypes that have come to dominate our national conversations about crime and punishment. If you could see the gallery space as it fills up with the family members of exhibiting artists, students and teachers, citizens of Ann Arbor and beyond (each year, between 3,700 and 4,100 people visit the gallery during a two-week period), then you would know how the exhibitions create community by redrawing the boundaries that normally separate those inside prisons and those who live “in the world.” When you walk into the gallery, you see people studying the biography books in which the artists have written statements about themselves and their work. You see a family looking for the art made by their son or brother or sister or mother; when they find the work, they might pose for a photograph in front of the piece, standing proud or amazed or grieving. You see a man quietly crying in front of a painting by his long-lost father. You see one of our staff or volunteers leading a tour for a group of developmentally disabled youth, a group of senior citizens, or youth from a drop-in center. Everywhere you look, you see groups of friends clustered in front of a piece of art, talking about it, debating its meanings, pulling other friends over to see what they have found. You see college students sitting before a work, 274 taking notes for a letter that they will write to the artist. You see our community engaging in serious reflection about what the artists have put forth, about their own preconceptions and in some cases about the costs and consequences of how we respond to crime and violence. As the conversations roll on, they often turn to what to do, how to end the damage caused by our crisis of mass incarceration. If you could see into the prison a few weeks later, you would see an incarcerated artist receiving her package in the mail, finding a quiet place to open it, and reading the comments in the guest book, perhaps one specifically written to her; she would then flip through the other materials sent to her, including local newspaper reviews, perhaps finding there an image of her work. You might see her go into her cell by herself to cry before tucking the package under her mattress or into her jacket. As the days pass, she will return to those materials again and again, both proud to have been seen as an artist and challenged to produce more work for next year’s exhibition. Those of us who help organize these shows believe that they sustain these artists in their resistance to the hostile and dehumanizing world of prison, where almost everything works against their growth. We believe—and their art and words tell us—that each drawing and painting is a form of resistance against everyone who tells them they are nothing and that they are incapable of good. Working against such accusations, making art is a form of resistance to the barrenness, hostility, and meaninglessness of life in prison. Each of the artists included in these pages has made a major contribution to the exhibitions. They have created beauty where there was none. They have created meaning where there was none. They have strived to perfect their craft through hours of labor. They have developed unique visual images for expressing what cannot be said in words. And so we honor their efforts and vision by including their work here. Readers who seek more information about the annual Prison Creative Arts Project’s Exhibitions of Art by Michigan Prisoners may contact us at www.prisonarts.org. A P P e N D I X ...

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