Episode 4: Art Against the Odds
People in prisons are cut off from their families, their communities, and in some cases their own feelings. Making art in prison — even with very few resources — can be a way to affirm your humanity in a place that is so often dehumanizing. So when the organizers of an exhibit of prison art put out a call for submissions, they were flooded with responses from incarcerated artists working without support, formal programs, or materials.
In this episode, we meet Joshua Gresl, John Tyson, and Sarah Demerath, three of the more than sixty artists whose work is part of an exhibition called “Art Against the Odds.” We also talk with Deb Brehmer, the co-curator of the exhibit, which opened in January 2023 in Milwaukee and included 250 works by currently or formerly incarcerated individuals. The artworks ranged from a series of concentric circles made daily with pencil on typing paper, to highly detailed portraits, to creatures shaped by hand from scraps of food packaging. But no matter what materials they were using, each artist told us that these art practices helped them get through their time inside.
Episode Extras!
Wisconsin's Prison Art Exhibit
Art Against the Odds opened in January of 2023 at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. The exhibit featured drawings, paintings, and sculptures from over 60 individual artists who had been or are incarcerated in Wisconsin prisons. Organized by The Portrait Society Gallery of Contemporary Art and funded in part with a grant from Wisconsin Humanities, the museum-scaled exhibit was the first of its kind, with professionally mounted artwork, room-sized installations, a collage of hand-written or typed correspondence with the artists from prison.
Debra Brehmer, who curated the exhibit along with Paul Salsieder, is featured in this episode of Human Powered, along with the three artists whose work is pictured below. Once a call for artwork was placed in The Community newsletter, Brehmer says she immediately started getting mail.
"It's not like a normal jurying process where they could send us photographs of the work and we could say, yeah, I want that one, that one, and that one. They were trusting us, sending maybe one of the best things that they've ever made, that they love the most, and letting us put that in the world."
In the episode, the artists talk about what a powerful experience it was for them to see their work appreciated by the public. John said, " It was life-changing. It really was." And Josh said, "They'll call us inmate, they'll call us prisoner, they'll call us a lot of things. But, you know, through this show, all these people are called artists now."
Learn more about the exhibit ➞
The power of creativity
"I am a portrait artist and I have been creating paintings for most of my life. My first exhibition and sales came about when I was 14 years old, and my work has been exhibited in juried and private exhibitions across the country. I love the tactile nature of creating a painting, or molding a sculpture with clay, and I know, intimately, the healing powers of art, in any form.
I was incarcerated for over 38 years and during that time I created nearly 2,000 works of art. I would create portraits of family members of the men that I came across, and those paintings symbolized the path that I took to finally gain my freedom. Art was power for me. It was a media to express myself in a place where self-expression and individualism was often frowned upon."
- Robert Taliaferro
In 2018, Taliaferro published a book called "Always Color Outside the Lines: Freedom for the Artist Within." The book celebrates the beauty of artistic expression, regardless of the level of experience. You can read his thoughts about the power of creativity, Art Against the Odds, and his artwork, in this short essay. Additionally, Taliaferro’s experience as the editor of The Prison Mirror was the centerpiece of episode three of our Human Powered: Humanity Unlocked season.
Featured Art
Episode Guests
Joshua
Joshua Will Gresl studied photography at Milwaukee Area Technical College. When incarcerated, to deal with his anxiety and try to get to a positive mental place, Joshua found that he needed to work with his hands, making drawings or utilizing any material he could find. He initiated a series of hundreds of “milk monsters” by tearing up milk cartons. During a period at Chippewa Valley Correctional Treatment Facility, he also learned to play guitar, keyboards and drums, singing in a band with fellow prisoners. To find Joshua’s work, check out Gresl photography.
Sarah
Sarah Demerath grew up in Iron Mountain, Michigan and became addicted to heroin at age 19. While incarcerated, she made greeting cards. Now out of prison, Demerath continues to make art. Her abstract ink compositions are autobiographical, documenting how she remembers her eyes appearing at various stages of addiction. She now works at the Convergence Resource Center (CRC) as a Victim Advocate and Director of Case Managers. Demerath and her mother initiated a program called Cards Behind Bars to send holiday and birthday cards to incarcerated women in Wisconsin.
John
John Tyson was diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder while in prison and found that repetition offered solace. Every day for a year, he drew circular target forms on printer paper with ink pens. It was a project of ritual, which, he says, felt calming. Tyson also makes repetitive tiny circles to build abstract compositions and uses stencils to translate his own poetry or quotes from musicians and authors into word pieces.
Debra
Debra Brehmer is the owner and director of Portrait Society Gallery of Contemporary Art in Milwaukee and is an art historian and writer. She is the director and co-curator of Art Against the Odds: Wisconsin Prison Art Exhibit, along with Paul Salsieder. She is especially interested in how portraits convey meaning. She wrote, "because most of these artists [who are part of Art Against the Odds] can’t be physically present at the exhibition, their work stands as portraits of who they might be as human beings, beyond the nomenclature of criminal records." The exhibition Art Against the Odds: Wisconsin Prison Art won a Wisconsin Visual Art Achievement award in 2024.
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Episode Credits
Hosts: Adam Carr and Dasha Kelly Hamilton
Senior Producer: Craig Eley
Producers: Jen Rubin and Jade Iseri-Ramos
Executive Producers: Dena Wortzel
Creative Producer: Jessica Becker
Photography: Used with permission
