Art Exhibition of Michigan Prisoners Comes to Adrian College posted 4/13/09
Exhibit on display April 18 to May 10

ADRIAN, Mich. - The University of Michigan’s Prison Creative Arts Project (PCAP) has been exhibiting the artwork of Michigan prisoners for fourteen years will be on display at Adrian College in Dawson Auditorium from April 18 to May 10, 2009. The exhibit is entitled “The Global Warming Crisis and Portraits of President Barak Obama: Artworks by Michigan Prisoners.”

The main exhibition, held at the Duderstadt Center Gallery on U of M’s North Campus, included 390 artworks by 229 artists from 39 prisons across Michigan. This year a special selection of the Fourteenth Annual Exhibition of Art by Michigan Prisoners will come to the campus of Adrian College. This selection of artwork, curated by the University of Michigan’s Professor Buzz Alexander, will focus on the global warming crisis and portraits of President Barak Obama.

In a description of the artwork on the PCAP web site it states, “Incarcerated people being cut off from the natural landscape have witnessed the widespread poisoning and consumption of the Earth’s natural resources in poignant and innovative ways. The artwork in this year’s show gives voice to these observations.”

The site goes on to say, “Participating artists express gratitude to organizers and gallery visitors alike, stressing the show’s impact on their lives and the community at large. ‘I believe that your program gives the public a glimpse into the type of things that inspire even the most downtrodden of us all” writes one artist. “When people see our work, for a few moments, they forget that this work was done by a felon, but by another human being : a human being who has the same thoughts, emotions, and inspirations as they do, and for that one moment, a major social and political barrier is shattered.’”

Even though these artists create with a very limited supply of materials, the range of their expressions are remarkably diverse. The many styles and approaches to their subject matter yield an exhibition of unexpected visual discovery. To learn more about the PCAP, please visit their official web site at http://www.lsa.umich.edu/english/pcap/ .

More information on the exhibition may be obtained by contacting Garin Horner, assistant professor of art and design at Adrian College at 517-265-5161 ext. 3902 or via e-mail at ghorner@adrian.edu.