If you send me your artwork/drawings please fill out/submit the "Artist Release Form" found at the bottom of this page.

 
Image Posted by SGT. Sandvig/Michigan

THE BEST PRISON ARTISTS ON THE INTERNET!

Bringing you people who are forgotten and deserve to be remembered.

Bighouse Prison Art is here to bring you the people who are thought of so little, yet have so much to give.  The talent of these men and women is so great, yet remains unseen.  Open your heart and mind as you enjoy the drawings, poems, and stories, of those many choose to ignore...........

At no time do I condone any illegal actions that may have been committed by anyone either incarcerated or free, but only offer the fact that each person is still a human being.  I was once told by an incarcerated friend of mine that "the only difference between those who are 'in' and those that are 'out' is that those that are 'in' got caught".  How many of us have never done anything for which we could be standing before a court of law?

The Prison Art website was created to provide an online outlet for the sale of artwork and crafts created by prisoners. Prisoner artists from throughout the U.S. can post their works within.

"When the prison gates slam behind an inmate, he does not lose his human quality; his mind does not become closed to ideas; his intellect does not cease to feed on a free and open interchange of opinions; his yearning for self-respect does not end; nor is his quest for self-realization concluded. If anything, the needs for identity and self-respect are more compelling in the dehumanizing prison environment. Whether an O. Henry authoring his short stories in a jail cell or a frightened young inmate writing his family, a prisoner needs a medium for self-expression." 

Thurgood Marshall

Home of JailSergeant.com

We have hundreds of original pieces of art on display. Each painting is accompanied by an artist profile indicating where the artist is locked up, what materials they used and what inspired them to create art. Buyers are encouraged to write and communicate with artists and let them know which piece they purchased and why they puchased it. Prisoners take an immense amount of satisfaction knowing someone on the outside appreciates their work!

http://www.prisonsfoundation.org/art.html

Porter County Sheriff's Department

                                                  Valparaiso, Indiana

     With Time, Toilet Paper, Prisoners Create Folk Art
                                                         May 11, 2009

By James D. Wolf Jr. Post-Tribune correspondent

Sheriff David Lain likes to hand people the softball-sized model of a skull wearing a cowboy hat, and ask people what they think it's made of.  About half guess it's made of toilet paper, he says.  He usually has to quickly tell them then that the brown tint came from coffee.  The red in the eye sockets might be ink from a pen, although he doesn't know where the orange there came from. The eyeballs were carefully torn from magazines.  Lain also has another such skull in his office, this one pure white. He also has a bouquet of intricate toilet paper roses, a toilet paper model of a horseman being hung from a tree, plus numerous crosses on chains, elaborately woven from threads from bedding and prison uniforms.  It's all contraband confiscated from prisoners since the Porter County Jail opened almost seven years ago.  Lain can appreciate the talents of prisoners who use whatever is on hand to make art, but there is a down side to their handiwork.  The problem is prisoners use their rationed toilet paper or destroy jail property for material.  "It harms the issued equipment. It shortens the life span. That's why when something like this is found, we can appreciate the talent, but we have to discourage it," Lain said.  It's a consequence of having a lot of time, said Warden Joe Widup, who's run the prison for the last 10 years.  The inmates get up at 6 a.m. and go to bed at 10 p.m. Those who don't take Bible study or classes in anger management or chemical abuse, or study for their GED, have a lot of free time.  "The busier we can keep them, the better not only for us but for them," Lain said.  There have been craft classes and there's a lending library, but any movement of prisoners uses limited staff time.  Not all the projects have been discouraged, however.  Lain's collection includes a series of PCJ Daily newspapers written with blue pen on single sheets of notebook paper, a few times on toilet paper and eventually on a 3x5 inch notecard that proclaimed "paper shortage ends production of Daily."  The headline of one of the toilet paper issues stated, ironically, "toilet paper in short supply."  The newspaper was created by prisoner Mike Kaufman during his 2004 stay, usually using his own materials.  "We found it a little humorous, so we let him go one with it and gave it to the sheriff (Dave Reynolds)," Widup said.  The issues, handwritten with drawings and sometimes crosswords, circulated around Kaufman's cell block and addressed whatever was on his mind – diet, staff, a "neighborhood watch" for police or "Olympic garbage can sliding trials banned at PCJ."  Some also insult staff in crude terms.  "If the guy's doing it just for his own entertainment, that's one thing. When the guy's being disrespectful towards staff, we have to draw the line," Lain said.  They've seen fewer of these projects over the years, Lain said.  Widup said there's also much less graffiti than at the previous jail. Those who break the rule can face sanctions, from a 23-hour confinement to their cell to solitary confinement.  Three violations in 30 days could end up before a hearing officer and lead to the loss of "good time" behavior credits.

Every expression on the website displays the deep conviction that each artist or athlete has for the particular forum in which they excel, and we proudly share it. 

When innovative and creative minds pour their artistic passions into something extreme, a quality base is born. Like a thriving seed in fertile soil, it grows and nothing can stop it. That’s what Convicted Artist is; a big mosaic of captivating art, extreme sports and intriguing styles.

                 The Cell

We are a the organization “Justice for” established to help abolish the death penalty. We are a NON PROFIT organization with families and friends of prisoners, former prisoners, human rights activists and abolitionists of the death penalty. Besides fighting to abolish the death penalty and to do campaigning for the innocent we also want to try to improve the every day life in prison. We can only imagine how important it is to be in contact with the outside world and how much joy it can bring you to meet new friends. We will fight for the prisoners rights. We are working together with organizations and activists all over the world.
We are searching pen pals for the prisoners in the USA who have a death sentence, life sentence, or long term sentence, but we search too pen pals for prisoners in Europe and for prisoners in Australia and Canada.
We give all prisoners a chance to send us writings, to show their arts and to offer many, many more projects.
All projects are free for the prisoners. 

TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!

WE HAVE TO FIGHT TOGETHER TO ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY!!! AND FIGHT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS!!!


See lots of ART created by Inmates


www.justice-for.org

 
ksandvig@jailsergeant.com