In his own words, Jordan Blevin, tells us what this project has meant to him and other incarcerated men who reside at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Stillwater. We kept the writing original to Jordan. We did not correct or edit his writing.

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Art from the Inside is an opportunity…an opportunity rarely afforded incarcerated people, a pathway to the outside world.  That pathway is paved with an individualistic creative form of expression that otherwise would be incarcerated with the artist.

Art from the Inside is a way for artists to express themselves, to reach out to the communities they once belonged to. The goal of corrections has been forgotten over time.  It is not to break the soul or damage the individual.  It should be to pay your debt to that community and to come back a better community member for it.

Art from the Inside is one of a rare programs that encourages individual form of expression and helps the soul find a way to reach outside these walls, giving with it a renewed sense of purpose.

What Art from the Inside is is more than a program for art. It is the beginning of a paradigm shift in how the world sees incarcerated peoples, and what hidden talents and qualities they have to offer.

In turn encouraging how the incarcerated people see themselves.  It is an idea that does step out of what is expected and challenges individuals to rise to the occasion to be the best them possible.  

True change starts from the inside…. inside the individual person one at a time.  Inside and outside the walls.

Gandhi said “be the change you wish to see in the world.” Art from the Inside is a step in the direction of real change, from the inside.

I myself am not an artist but see the greater benefit this program has to offer. Its a big step in the right direction.