The first class of eight art students at the Newton County Detention Center graduated in a ceremony at the facility Thursday, showcasing their paintings to friends and family and bringing many of them to tears.
The art program is the first of its kind at the Newton County facility. Sheriff Ezell Brown said he was inspired to bring the two-month long program to the center after he saw the artwork produced by inmates in a similar workshop in Chatham County, home to Savannah.
“My passion is helping those who stumble along the way,” Brown said. “All I can say is that had it not been for someone else along my journey who extended their hand out to me when I was struggling, I could not have found my way to who I am today.”
The program came together quickly in May, according to Brown. Within a few days of launching the idea, Brown had recruited Zerric Clinton, a local artist and high-school art teacher, to teach the classes. He also found a location in the facility where the class could meet.
Brown said he wanted to give people who are detained a place to pursue their passions and a way to express themselves. Clinton said that’s exactly what art is intended to do.
“Whatever you decide... this is positive, this is negative, you have a bad day... suddenly all those types of things come out of your soul,” Clinton said.
During the graduation ceremony, students stood up one-by-one and explained their pieces. Many of the participants said that the art workshop gave them a place to reflect on their pasts and visualize exactly who they want to be in the future.
Teresa Hunt drew a painting of her mother that reflected on their relationship and history. She then drew another painting of herself, allowing her to envision her future.
“These are just the colors of my life,” Hunt said. “Each color represents something different in my past from good to ugly. And I will not let my past find me, and I will no longer live in my past… And I just look at life like you know, I’m getting older and it’s time to be different, time to do something different.”
Kelly Choma also said she viewed the art class as a place to see envision her future. Especially in her more abstract pieces, she said, she felt like she was able to get her feelings out on the page.
“I’m stuck in this body but this is me,” Choma said of one of her abstract paintings. “I want to be able to express myself like this is, in the proper way. This is the way I really want to wake up in the morning and bed at night and approach my family and interact with other people. That’s the free spirited me.”
While the students presented, a facility staff-member walked around the room with napkins, handing them to family members who needed to dry their eyes.
According to Larry Brewster, professor emeritus at the University of San Francisco who has extensively studied the benefits of art in prisons, art programs and therapy have been employed at correctional facilities since the 1980s to help students conceptualize their feelings.
In 1983, Brewster conducted the first cost-benefit analysis of a similar program in California. He found art classes improved behavior and decreased violence among student participants. Brewster pursued another, farther reaching study on the benefits of art programs in detention facilities in 2010. He attended classes, interviewed participants and looked at a variety of program types, including theater, poetry, painting and singing.
Brewster said that he saw art break down barriers by race and, sometimes, by gang affiliation, in classes. He said he saw members of different gangs working side by side, critiquing each other and applauding each other.
“I found that most people gained confidence and self-esteem,” Brewster said. “They wanted to pursue other opportunities after the classes were done. And, I found the majority didn’t see themselves in an outside context in these classes. They just saw themselves as artists.”
Overall, Brown said, the pilot art program at Newton County has been a success. The facility holds around 88 inmates awaiting trial or sentencing or serving a sentence after conviction. Inmates can choose from more than 20 programs to participate in, including soft skills development, yoga and workforce development.
The arts program will continue to run on a two-month schedule, operating alongside the office’s other programs, Brown said.
“I am very proud of each and every last one of you,” Brown told the students at their graduation. “I could go on and on telling you how grateful I am, especially when I look down and see what you have poured into these paintings.”
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