SPECIAL SERIES:
This is the third in a series of Art In Your Inbox editions developed in collaboration with the Prison Creative Arts Project (PCAP).
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Face to Face
Artwork Title: Moonlit Two-step
Artist: Alan Compo
2014, acrylic
Artist statement

“Most days I feel lost in this transition of self correction. Feelings that pour out puddles of thick paint on canvas touching dry anxious days. Thoughts found swooshing graphite across paper, pushing light into dark, sounds of shading stumps and fingers sliding back and forth, forth and back….Meditation, prayers...escape. Dreams and 13 year old memories mixing with the taste of tingy eraser tops of bristles of brushes rinsed almost clean in tinted cloudy water. Looking for forgiveness...finding art...sometimes. Lost in the smells of old paint kept moist on a lid with wet paper towel, of new paper, of pencil shavings...wondering what ifs, if onlys, and I can’t wait! With an emotion that occasionally showed its face on paper or canvas where others may see my feelings of self correction while lost in transition…” – Alan Compo
Alan Compo returned home in 2018 and has been continuing his art practice full time. While incarcerated, he gained deeper connection to his Native identity, and his paintings are often tributes to the Anishinaabe people and elements of Native culture.

Reflection Prompts:
  • How does Compo use geometric stylistic choices to tell a story about the interconnectedness of its figures?
  • Does Compo’s painting make you think of an image that represents your heritage? What similarities exist between that image and Compo’s?
  • Compo discovered a passion for bold color. Do you have a signature color? Has it always been the same? Do you think your choice is related to your personality? 
View More of Compo's Work

From October 2019-January 2020, Alan Compo’s most recent exhibition, Changing Moons, was on display at Ann Arbor’s Detroit Street Filling Station. Look at more of Compo’s work, including expansive murals and older work selected for PCAP’s annual exhibition, and read about the rich culture he portrays through his art. 
Journey To Freedom — Interview With a Formerly Imprisoned Michigan Artist

Michigan artist, Martin Vargas, was imprisoned for 45 years for a crime he committed as a minor, with two other teenagers. The artwork he created while incarcerated and since his return home ranges from photorealistic images of people, places, and animals, to his own unique, signature creation of human-like figures titled, “Pudgies,” who embody universal experiences of life. Much of Vargas’ work is autobiographical and connected to specific moments of crisis, change, or contemplation during his journey to freedom. Read UMMA's interview with Vargas as part of our Medicine at the Museum series.
PCAP Podcast

PCAP hosts its own podcast featuring formerly incarcerated artists, talking about artistic practice, navigating homecoming, and defining oneself outside of prison walls. In the season two episode “Tribe,” Alan Compo discusses his love of art, his Anishinaabe community, and his experiences with policing since his homecoming.
About PCAP

The Prison Creative Arts Project (PCAP) brings those impacted by the justice system and the University of Michigan community into artistic collaboration for mutual learning and growth. Founded in 1990 with a single theatre workshop, PCAP has grown to include undergraduate courses, weekly creative arts workshops, exhibitions, publications, and events that reach thousands of individuals each year. PCAP's most visible program, the Annual Exhibition of Art by Michigan Prisoners, is the largest curated exhibition of incarcerated artists in the world and features pieces created by artists in every correctional facility in the state. The Annual Exhibition is generously sponsored by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and Om of Medicine.
Art In Your Inbox Contributors:
  • Olivia Ordonez, PhD Candidate in English Language and Literature and Rackham Public Engagement Fellow at UMMA;
  • Nora Krinitsky, Lecturer in the Residential College and Interim Director of the Prison Creative Arts Project; and
  • Janie Paul, visual artist and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor Emerita, Stamps School of Art and Design and School of Social Work, and Senior Curator, Prison Creative Arts Project.
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