On March 9, Spencertown Academy Arts Center will host “Cellblock Visions: Set Free in the Penitentiary,” a presentation by Phyllis Kornfeld, an artist and educator who has spent more than 40 years leading art workshops in correctional facilities across the country. From county jails to maximum-security prisons and death row, she has worked with incarcerated individuals who, despite their circumstances, produce artwork that is vivid, intricate, and deeply personal.
Kornfeld is the author of Cellblock Visions: Prison Art in America, a study of the art created behind bars and the ways in which it reflects the inner lives of its makers. The book, published by Princeton University Press, collects drawings, paintings, and crafts made in confinement, often with limited materials, and examines how the urge to create persists even in restrictive environments. “Personally, it is always an illuminating, exciting event to see the prisoners discover something very positive, and mysterious, coming from inside themselves,” Kornfeld says. “The art is often miraculously fresh, and despite the context, there is a lot of joy.”
Her work highlights an aspect of incarceration that is rarely considered: the artistic lives of those inside. Some pieces incorporate traditional techniques, while others use whatever materials are available—soap carvings, repurposed paper, and even dyes extracted from food. The result is an art form that is distinctive in both its resourcefulness and its emotional depth.
Through a slide lecture, Kornfeld will present images of prison artwork alongside statements from the artists, offering a look at their creative processes and the motivations behind their work. Many of the pieces challenge preconceptions about who prisoners are and what they are capable of. “I am convinced that art making is a natural human impulse and everybody has the potential,” she says. “But often, internal and external life events block the access.”
The event is part of Spencertown Academy’s Conversations with Neighbors series, which brings in speakers whose work offers insight into different aspects of contemporary life. Committee co-chair Lisa Bouchard Hoe notes that Kornfeld’s presentation underscores the universality of creativity: “The art itself, and Kornfeld’s experiences behind bars with the men and women who live there, deliver irrefutable evidence that people in prison have the very same capacity, and desire, to create beauty and goodness. That potential exists in all of us, no less in an incarcerated person, and can be elicited just as violence can.”
The presentation begins at 2pm. Admission is free, though reservations are requested.
Event Details
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