Life behind bars can be dreary, and the concrete walls and harsh fluorescent lighting in most facilities don't exactly spark inspiration. In addition, the Minnesota prison system recently experienced the first-ever death of an on-duty officer in its corrections history, which created additional anxiety for prisoners and officers alike.

But Martha Ackerman—the wife of Prison Fellowship® president and CEO James Ackerman—and skilled artist Stephanie Segel had a vision to bring art and peace to prisons while developing a sense of community for prisoners. So they designed a restorative art program they named Create: New Beginnings, and they recently brought it to MCF Shakopee, a women's prison in Minnesota.

Their art-based, in-prison workshops on topics such as shame, self-doubt, empathy, and forgiveness have been well-received. Then, a conversation about how great it would be to paint a large, permanent mural on a prison wall sprouted into an amazing moment of healing for the prison staff and residents.

BLOOMING BEHIND BARS

The mural project was filled with symbolism. Martha and Stephanie decided to paint the flowers inside a three-dimensional shadowbox, symbolizing the idea of finding beauty even when it’s behind glass or in a sealed enclosure.

On the DOC's peer values printout, each value is listed in a uniquely colored description box, so the women choose those respective colors for the backgrounds of the five shadowboxes.

To involve the prison's residents in a hands-on capacity, "I came up with a 'paint-by-numbers' kind of thing," says Stephanie. "We stenciled in the outline and mixed all the colors and labeled them, and then guided the ladies which colors would go where."

Before the project began, women who wanted to participate were asked to submit a sample piece of art, and all who submitted were allowed to help. Stephanie explained that some of the women with more of an artistic knack would paint the more detailed areas while others would paint the bigger spaces.

Sixteen prisoners came in groups of four to paint, working alongside volunteers and staff in harmony, all of them feeling inspired and proud.

Prisoners and staff remarked how emotional the mural made them, some through tears. Everyone involved agreed that the painting process was very calming. "Several inmates said to us, 'This whole event is making our entire year,'" says Stephanie. "It was so special."