John Howard Association of Illinois

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“Light from Inside” features artists from the most restrictive Illinois prisons including Pontiac, Dwight, Menard, Stateville, Lawrence, Pinkneyville, Western, Hill and Tamms Supermax facilities. Most of the artists are long-term prisoners and “lifers” who are self-taught and have worked at their craft without the usual tools of an artist.

Members of the Art Committee of the John Howard Association and staff from Illinois Department of Corrections gathered the art works.

“The work represents an escape into another realm for the incarcerated man and woman,” said Cynthia Kobel, a member of the Committee. “Many of the artists must be inventive with the medium they use since few of the prisons have art supplies.”

Kobel noted, “In the past, many artists used soap to create sculpture, but the Department of Corrections end the practice, deeming the soap sculptures as “destruction of state property.”

The inmate art and inventiveness have a fascinating range:

• Cornelius Ames has built a three-dimensional sculpture of a miniature fortress with bricks made out of newspaper and water, using newspaper and toothpaste for mortar. 
• Others have used bed sheets and discarded paper as canvases. 
• Other inmates have created art using plastic mirrors etched with staple points. Some have pieced together envelopes to create poster-size paintings.
• At Tamms Supermax prison the only art tool is a four inch flexible ink pen tube, but men there have found that they can use Jell-O and candy to create color.

The “Light from Inside: Art from Illinois Prisons” survey, which will also exhibit during the John Howard Association’s Annual Luncheon at the Cultural Center on September 18, 2008 at noon.

>> May 2008:  John Howard Association Visiting Schedule

>> May 31, 2008: Executive Director Malcolm Young writes Letter to the Editor regarding IDOC's plan to close a maximum security prison, published in the Morris Daily Herald. Click here to read the letter.

>>  May 22, 2008: The Association releases a report on what the Department of Juvenile Justice's Priorities should be in the upcoming fiscal year. To access the report, please click here.

>>  May 6, 2008: Illinois Department of Corrections plans to close Pontiac Correctional Center

Illinois Department of Corrections officials have abandoned initial plans to close Stateville Correctional Center, and are now focused on closing Pontiac Correctional Center, located about 90 miles south of Chicago. The Pontiac Correctional Center is one of Illinois' maximum-security prisons which houses long-term segregation prisoners, prisoners with mental health problems, prisoners requiring protective custody and Illinois' condemned unit. Pontiac also has a minimum security unit. Click here to watch Charles Fasano's comments on the closing of Pontiac Correctional Center, as reported by ABC news.

>> May 2, 2008: Cook County Juvenile Detention Center Transitional Administrator Seeks Relief in Federal Court to Address Staffing Issues  UPDATE May 8, 2008:  Judge Nordberg grants the Transitional Administrator's request for relief, find the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center  to be dangerously understaffed, and overrules Union's objections; orders Transitional Administrator to report back in 6 months in writing. Read the order here.

In Federal Court today, the union Steward testified about the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement; one union member testified that it would be a hardship to move him from the night shift to days because of his ailing mother. Judge Nordberg ordered briefs to be submitted by Monday, May 5, 2008 at 4 p.m and stated that he will rule on those briefs on Thursday, May 8, 2008. Read the May 2, 2008 Chicago Tribune Editorial about the Detention Center here. The Association has since March pressed for action in the Federal Court. 

>> May 2, 2008: John Howard Association Staff and Board Members Announce Scheduled Visit Thomson Correctional Center

Earlier this year, the Illinois Department of Corrections announced its intention to close a maximum-security prison and potentially open Thomson Correctional Center, a state of the art maximum-security prison near the Iowa border.  Association staff and Board members requested an opportunity to tour the facility, which is scheduled for May 13, 2008. More details to follow.