Menlo News March 07, 2019

Art Exhibit by San Quentin Death Row Artists

Artwork created by San Quentin Prison inmates sentenced to death and spending the remainder of their lives in prison will be on display in Menlo’s Creative Art and Design Center Gallery through the end of March.
Menlo Displays Artwork by San Quentin Death Row Artists

Along with the featured artwork, the exhibit includes biographies of the artists and descriptions of their life in prison. On loan to Menlo, this is the first time the art is being shown in the Bay Area, where the inmates are currently incarcerated.

The collection was curated by former Menlo student Maddy Wenig ’20 with the assistance of art teacher Dr. Nina Ollikainen. Maddy and Nina sought to create an exhibit that highlighted the prisoners’ humanity through their art and hoped to start a discussion about prison reform. The art pieces were originally sent by the prisoners to their pen pal, U.K. artist Nicola White, who helps to sell their artwork online and is a friend of Maddy’s and her family.

Nina encourages everyone to stop by the CADC to look at the art and read the biographies of these inmates. She says, “My own initial response was one of surprise and intrigue. Reviewing the art and reading about their lives changed my preconceived notions of what life as a death row prisoner might be like. Many of the stories they relay are quite poignant.”

Nina shares that Daniel Cervantes’ sweet image of flowers in a vase particularly impacted her. His inspiration for the drawing is a memory of the flowers his daughter would bring him prior to his incarceration. Another artist, currently in solitary confinement, paints peaceful natural landscapes while other artwork conveys the perseverance to create under difficult circumstances such as those created by a prisoner using colors made from coffee and the shells of m&m’s.

“Art is a respite and escape to a peaceful inner world for these artists and a way to connect with the outside world they will never see,” Nina shares.

Further information about the artists is available through a website created to showcase their art.

https://www.artofsanquentin.com/