Inside / Outside is about art in the context of crime and incarceration. Prison art inevitably opens a dialogue about crime and punishment, public safety and a myriad of issues related to the criminal justice system. While welcoming this conversation, this Art In City Hall exhibition primarily explores art that comes from the most desperate of places – a form of art “outside” of the mainstream and created within confinement — art from “inside”. In doing so, it is impossible to separate the object of the art from those who have created it, for it is that human element that makes the art and the exhibit so compelling. For many of the inmates, art is a vehicle for transformation, a forum for redemption and reflection, and a way to deal with their imprisonment. Making art is as much a struggle to stay relevant and alive, as it is a way to contribute to society.

Charles H. Lawson has six paintings in the exhibit, most of which were inspired by photographs: “If my art has given you pause…. And in that pause, you feel and see something outside of yourself that can help transform your understanding, and transform your actions…then I have made a contribution to your life.”

“Art empowers people and can give those who have been isolated and denied personhood a forum in which to express themselves,” says Jane Golden, Director of the Mural Arts Program. “It gives a voice to those who have been silenced, a way of saying I am here. In spite of the environment, art can flourish anywhere, even in the bleakest of settings — people find the inspiration to create.”

image: Leon Jesse James, “Space Modulator”, acrylic on board. SCI Graterford.

reception
Tuesday, September 7, from 4–6 pm in Conversation Hall, Room 201.
Mayor Michael A. Nutter is scheduled to attend.

Lawson is a co-founder of Art for Justice, a non-profit dedicated to raising awareness of the long term consequences and costs of incarceration and the alternatives of Restorative Justice. Lawson is serving a life sentence at SCI Graterford.

The exhibit consists mostly of paintings and drawings, but also features some found-object sculpture. Thomas Schilk, also from SCI Graterford, creates an assortment of bugs from melting and painting plastic spoons. Billy McLimore, represented by Snyderman-Works Galleries, was a carpenter before his 18 year incarceration at a Kentucky prison. He has 14 found object assemblages in the show, including sailboats, paddle boats and small intricate wooden boxes, each depicting a southwestern scene such as the Alamo or old stage coaches. The materials he used included his own bedsheets, which serve as sails, gram crackers, soap bars, popsicle and matchsticks – virtually anything he could find in prison. In order to create these obsessively detailed works without the aid of knives or traditional woodcarving tools, McLimore had to improvise and make his own tools, such as plastic fork tips and scrapers. He even stole the blade from a pencil sharper and snuck it back to his cell – art by any means necessary.

The City of Philadelphia’s Art In City Hall exhibition program celebrates its 62nd juried group exhibition based on a specific theme. Inside / Outside features the art of prison inmates and ex-offenders. The exhibit runs from August 2nd – October 29, 2010 on the second and fourth floors of City Hall, NE corner. In addition, the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program has an exhibition by students from its Youth Violence Reduction Partnership Guild Program for at – risk adolescents on the first floor, west corridors, near the 311 offices.

The 26 participating artists are:

Inside / Outside is organized in collaboration with the City of Philadelphia’s Mural Arts Program with participating artists from Art for Justice, Connection Training Services, SCI Graterford, The Philadelphia Prison System, local ex-offenders and MAP’s Youth Violence Reduction Partnership Guild Program.

The Mural Arts Programs within the criminal justice system are designed to be restorative, and as such incorporate social and basic educational skills for inmates, providing a forum for discussing the impact of crime on the community and allowing inmates an opportunity to make amends for their crime by restoring their communities through art and mural projects. In addition, the Mural Art Program sponsors a yearly prison art show, featuring work by inmates and juveniles at the Lincoln Financial Mural Arts Center at the Thomas Eakins House. The Restorative Justice program at Mural Arts has been involved in over thirty community mural projects spread throughout the City of Philadelphia.

The exhibition runs thru October 29. City Hall is opened during the week and closed on weekends and holidays.

Art In City Hall is a collaborative effort between the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy and the arts community. It is supported by an independent Advisory Council made up of arts professionals and private citizens. Since the program began in 1984, over 2000 emerging artists have shown their talents in the hallways of City Hall through juried group exhibitions based on specific themes. In addition to these exhibitions, the program also displays artwork from Philadelphia’s schools, other city agencies, local non-profits, and community arts organizations.