(CAÑON CITY, Colo.) — The Fremont Center for the Arts in Cañon City is hosting an art ehibit created by inmates at USP Florence ADMAX, also known as “supermax” or the “Alcatraz of the Rockies.”
The exhibition, which runs for the rest of the month, showcases 500 pieces created by 50 artists from the prison. It ranges from crocheted stuffed animals, blankets and purses, to abstract, to realism.
“It’s very different. I’ve taught for 50 years. I’ve taught art, and I’ve taught in a lot of settings, but never in one like this,” said Joanne Suther, a volunteer helping lead the art classes. “We’re in the gymnasium, and there are five cells that have been set up there, and the men are brought in one at a time and put into a cell, and we teach five men in that arena.”
Although you won’t find names on the art, she says participants are screened before taking the class.
“They learn the foundations of art and then how to grow in those areas and become masterful at the medium that they use, and then also how to promote and sell their art,” said Suther.
The art classes are part of the First Step Act, which allows inmates to earn certain rewards for participating. Suther and an ADX chaplain lead the classes, which are called Houses of Healing and Interfaith Cooperation.
“Many of them are part of a really strong belief system,” Suther explained. “So we have maybe one Catholic. You could have one that is Native American. You could have a man from the Aryan Brotherhood. You could have a man that practices Islam, and they have to learn how to cooperate on our cooperative project.”
The art show opened on Friday, Aug. 1, with about 400 attendees. Many red dots could be seen (indicating purchases), and a jar was filled with notes containing kind words for the prisoners about specific pieces.
Bobby Farris, director of the center, remarked on the quality of the art, saying, “They (attendees) were all blown away. They couldn’t believe the art… When you think about the prisoners, where they are, and the materials they have to be able to work with, and then see what they’ve created… is stunning.”
One prisoner even used the inside of a chip bag to make shiny windows on his art piece.
The artwork is priced between $5 – $300. Half of the proceeds go to the inmate artists, while the other half supports the Fremont Center for the Arts.
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