This Art isn't Free

If you walk into the Duderstadt Gallery on North Campus right now you will find a room full of beautiful art work. The amount of thought and effort that went into these pieces of work screams at you, as you notice the meticulous attention to detail and creative concepts and strategies. But this is no regular art gallery. This is the art that was collected from prisons all over Michigan as part of a large ongoing project that has taken place annually for 15 years. The first time this exhibit ran was in 1996 and there was art from 50 prisoners that exhibited 70 works and ended up selling 43 works. This year, the exhibit has expanded to 236 artists exhibiting 422 works, and the success of this project is warranted!

Art is a wonderful expressive tool, and it's especially intriguing to see what these state prisoners have created. This year there was a theme that the prisoners used as a guidance but were not limited to, "Michigan's Economy." We all know that Michigan's economy is not doing well, but to see how it has affected so many people within the state prison system reverberates the challenges this economy has caused. It's eye-opening and definitely worth a visit.

This project is directed by Janie Paul, a professor in the Art & Design school, and Buzz Alexander, a professor from the English department. Along with this project, they have developed several classes for university students designed to work directly with the prisoners and facilitate critical thought on the state prison system.

When you walk through the exhibit, you will notice that each piece has been assigned a price or asks for the best offer. Some of the money made from the exhibit goes to paying the costs of running the exhibit, and the rest is sent back to the prisoners. When I asked what the prisoners did with the money, I assumed that many of them would send the money home to their families, but I also learned that money is a commodity within the prison, as often times classes are offered and certain things can be bought within the prison such as snacks, cigarettes, phone cards, etc. Pricing the pieces was another thing I was curious about, as some of them were well over $300 and some of them were under $30. Apparently the curators discussed the pricing individually with each prisoner (all 236 artists).

Even if you aren't looking to buy any art, simply walking through the gallery is a very rewarding experience. You are given the ability to look into the minds of people that we know very little about, and visualize their frustrations, hopes, and interests. The gallery is open from 10AM until 7PM every day until April 7th, so hurry up and check it out!