A Glimpse Inside: Art Produced in Iowa Prisons

The artworks included in "A Glimpse Inside" were produced inside the Iowa Prison system, at various locations. Artists make use of mostly improvised materials to produce art that may be purely for self-expression, or possibly for personal income, such as greeting cards and commissioned portraits. All income earned in prison, whether privately or from official wages, is meager. Art is sometimes produced for cash and at other times for "prison money."

The collector, Doren L. Walker, was encouraged by retired attorney Vicki Rush to share his own art and art he has collected from incarcerated persons over the last fifteen years. His hope is that each artist will be seen as a person, making it easier for them to rejoin Iowa communities and find good jobs and suitable housing. Mr. Walker has been aided by support from Inside Out Reentry Community and Kathrina Litchfield, of the University of Iowa Center for Human Rights. Jordan Sellergren, Art Director at Little Village, set up the exhibition at the magazine's headquarters in Iowa City. This has been a truly communal effort!

Inside Out Reentry Community website

MARSHALL MCTAGGART
Milk Truck, Matchsticks and Popsicle sticks, approx. 22" x 8"

From collector Doren L. Walker: "This milk truck was made for me by my friend Marshall McTaggart, an inmate at IMCC. It is an exact replica of the 2016 Freightliner Quad Axle truck that I drive daily. It is actually a bank—if you lift the port in the top you could put coins in it! The wheels roll and it is a very nice piece. It took Marshall three months to make it, and it was featured on the front page of The Gazette. Marshall makes lots of other objects from matchsticks, and has honed his art into quite a skill!"