Art from Inside
We recently received some beautiful and moving artwork from some of our community members at Dixon! Survivors at Dixon Correctional Center have created extensive arts programming that includes opportunities for folks to participate in the fine arts, poetry, writing, and performance art. The Dixon CC Performing Arts (formerly Dixon CC Theatre Workshop) “was started in 2018 by a diverse group of prisoners from different age groups. Their purpose was to use the creativity of the theatre as a forum to amplify the voices and stories of prisoners during the era of mass incarceration. To accomplish this the DPA wrote and performed original plays, concerts, spoken word poetry, they also hosted writing expositions, and roundtable discussions.”
We’re so excited to display these pieces in our space!
The descriptions below were written by Brian Beals.
Dreamer's Nightmare was painted by William Lopez and several other artist for the Dixon Performing Arts (DPA) program to represent playwright Apolinar Sernas-Jacobo vision for his play "Dreamer's Nightmare." Apolinar, who was incarcerated at age 17, joined the DPA as an actor. He immediately made a favorable impression on the facilitators with his positive attitude and humble demeanor.
When asked if he wanted to write and deliver a story that would address some of the issues in his community, he stepped up.
Dreamer's Nightmare is comprised of a lot of the stories Apolinar heard growing up in Chicago. It is about a young man, Pablito, who leaves a life of poverty in Mexico and plans to live the American dream. He gets in trouble dealing with the coyotes, struggles in America, and his parents die in Mexico. Pablito gets arrested as a result of his alcoholism and faces deportation.
Apolinar infused moving ballets, sung in Spanish, to help tell the story that spans almost thirty years. The Dreamer's Nightmare cast was both multi-cultural and featured actors who ranged in age from their early twenties to their seventies and eighties. After writing, directing and producing Dreamer's Nightmare under the tutelage of the DPA facilitators, Apolinar was promoted to Facilitator.
Description written by Brian Beals.
Dear Summer was produced by Facilitator Toussaint Daniels and headlined by fellow Facilitator Brian "King Moosa" Harrington in 2019. It was a Spoken Word/ Hip Hop concert centered around a young man during his journey of transformation one summer.
Toussaint defly infused each performance with an element of drama as the performers narrated the the young man's journey with each poem and song.
Toussaint says, "I designed the program to ensure all the attendees witness a spectacle that induced a feeling of nostalgia, as the participants provided songs and poems that covered an array of challenges such as; pain, loss, love and ultimately triumph. All the emotions synonomous with the season of summer."
Summer is the hardest season to be in. Everybody is moving around and we are feeling stuck. Anger and frustration permeate the prison atmosphere. The genius of Dear Summer addressed the emotion of summer and made the pain fade away for a while.
Description written by Brian Beals.
The Mi Gente banner was painted by Barron Fermin. The show got cancelled due to an uptick COVID cases. However, there was a writing exposition and painting contest for Hispanic Heritage Month connected to that banner that went well.
The banners are a representation of the creativity, spirit, and desire of the men/women in the IDOC to have our humanity recognized. That is what makes them special. They counter the narrative that the authorities would have the public believe.
Description written by Brian Beals.
Welcome Back To Society painted by Carmell Jackson and commissioned by Brian Beals. The bright colors to represent the future for guys coming home, and the guy working outside cleaning the Center symbolizes them putting in work at the Center, keeping it safe and growing.
Thank you so much Carmell and Brian for this incredible piece. What a beautiful tribute to CTJC, and a reminder of why the Center exists and why we do the work that we do.
CTJC,
My name is Sherman Spears, I am the art instructor here at Dixon Corr. Cntr. I learned about your Love-a-thon through you news letter and a mutual friend of Mr. Beals.
We were discussing the news letter and how great it would be to get the art community here at Dixon to join together and create some art pieces for donation to your organization for the tireless work you have done on behalf of the tortured and wrongfully convicted offenders who otherwise wouldn’t had a chance to defend themselves against the systematic racism that was prevalent in the culture of the Chicago Police Dept.
I Initiated a drive amongst the artists here to create some pieces to donate to the Love-a-thon drive to decorate the offices of the CTJC. I personally was motivated to create an original piece that I felt represent the “broken system” of the CPD and the systemic racism, inequality and illegal practices of rogue officers within the department I know this original piece will spark the conversation and/or opinions of all viewers that see the piece.
The “broken” piece is my representation of all the black and brown lifes that were lost as a result of the racist and illegal practices of those rogue policemen who has destroyed countless innocent men lives and families. The blood splatter also represent the lives of the officers that lost their lives in the line of duty.
I want to personally thank the staff of CTJC for the tireless work and effort you put forward to ease the pain of the tortured and the injustice our men and families has and still endure fighting to right the wrongs of the Chicago Police Department and the “broken” criminal justice system.
Thank You Much
God Bless
Sherman Spears
