ROOTS OF HOPE: Art show shows journey from despair in prison

Carrots, blueberries, collard greens.

These are items some people take for granted, but at Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women, these are the lifeblood for many prisoners.

Troy University’s Dr. Stephen Carmody has gone inside the fences and walls of Tutwiler almost every Wednesday to help with a garden. The gardening program is in its sixth year and was started with a USDA grant. To expand the program, art was added with the help of Troy University art professor Dr. Kelly C. Berwager.

Garden Program

This year’s winter/early spring garden includes carrots, blueberries and greens. Just last week, Carmody was almost brought to tears as the prisoner harvested some of the not yet ready carrots and started to eat.

“They were so worried that if they don’t pick it now, somebody else is gonna to get them,” Carmody said. 

The prisoners yet again pulled at Carmody’s heartstrings as they started to share.  

Two of the prisoners returned to the garden from their dorm as Carmody was still working. They wanted more carrots to share with those in their prison dorm who can’t partake in Carmody’s gardening program.

“It was a thing of beauty,” Carmody said.

Two weeks ago Carmady started the sixth year of the garden program. Berwager has been teaching the art part for about four years. 

“We have 15 women who’ve been with us for more than two years,” Carmady said. “We have five starting their sixth year with us.”

Another 14 have just joined the program. 

Art program

Berwager too has been going inside Tutwiler, and she finds inspiration from the prisoners she treats just like her students at Troy University. 

“I do some of the same stuff in both places,” Berwager said. “It’s just about making it relevant.”

Berwager and Carmody brought the prisoners’ art and stories just a mile down the road to The Kelly Fitzpatrick Center for the Arts for the Roots of Hope show now open at The Kelly.

“We started kind of brainstorming names,” Berwager said. “It just popped up and that’s it. That’s what we want it to be called because this is what gives us hope when we don’t have a whole lot.”

Despite not getting to see or visit with their patrons, Berwager said the prisoners were ecstatic to know their work would be shown at The Kelly. 

One prisoner named Alice has artwork in the show, and she said it was about 2019 when Carmody came to Tutwiler to support the garden that things started to turn around for her.

“My life since being incarcerated has been a rollercoaster,” Alice said. “I decided I was tired. I quit acting out. I quit smoking and doing drugs and I haven’t used since. I still struggle with staying positive because I have a life sentence and it’s hard to see a light at the end. One of the things that keep me positive is the garden program. It gives me something positive to do.”

At the opening of the show Berwager couldn’t speak of the women’s stories as it caused her to cry. Instead she pointed to the stories of some of the women accompanying their art. While hanging the art last week, a guest saw Alice’s story and Berwager took note of the man’s reaction as he spoke with his wife.

“I heard the gentleman say, ‘Oh my gosh, come here and read this woman’s story. She hasn’t seen her kids in over a decade,’” Berwager said. “It wasn’t judgment. It wasn’t condemnation. It was pain. He felt it. We feel it every time we walk in there.” 

In the future, Berwager and Carmady hope to expand their efforts, adding more programs and getting more people involved. They also hope to grow their programs to other prisons.

“My heart is full,” Berwager said. “I know the women’s hearts will be the same.”

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