TRANSFORMATION: Art from Within Art Exhibit

VOICES OF THE VISITORS

Gregory, age 12 – It was extraordinary, very touching. My favorite piece was the Haiku.

Tony, age 17 – Sometimes it good to see something from a whole different perspective and to see just how we can relate to each a lot more than we do. It shows how much we have in common. My favorite piece was the “Voices from Elmwood.” The writing that touched me the most was the one that said, “It means a lot that you’re here tonight. It means that the world hasn’t given up yet.”

It gave me goosebumps. What I saw was the force of humanity. These people who have no self-image are finding they have something in themselves that can be better than they are now.

It was so much more than what I expected. I was amazed at the beauty of the art.

Lovely.

I was really taken with the vellum mandalas. I loved that it was the individual effort and the group effort. And I just had to reach out and touch the board that contained the “Voices from Elmwood.”

You are bringing color and hope into a gloomy place.

The art was so professional and interesting.

WOW! Incredible!

It’s a wonderful example of the power of art to uplift you in more ways than one. I loved the butterflies.

I was amazed at how we set expectations about people who have different backgrounds than us and then you see their art product and how phenomenal it is. And instead of thinking in terms of “them” and “us,” the reality is we’re all “us.” You can see the passion they have for the art. It came through, and I felt warmed by it. I was moved to tears at times. It was phenomenal.

I work at the Hall of Justice and I’m just blown away by what I’ve seen. I’m so excited to come out and be a part of this experience.

It’s spectacular! What can I do to help those people at Elmwood?

I was stunned by the beauty of it! I was fixated by the comments in “What is Hope?”

Words cannot adequately explain what the eye takes in. Most of the people I spoke with were also blown away.

Thank you for allowing me to partake in this experience and make the prayer flags for the inmates.

It was astounding to see this exhibit put together in this array of color and these many different perspectives of us, the prayers, the hands, the patterns. It was really wonderful.

I was particularly struck with the mandalas with the hands.

I checked out the artwork at a pre-party viewing. AWESOME. The framed butterflies and other pieces are museum quality. A lot of talent! I hope the inmates can parlay it into jobs or art therapy when they get out.

I am going to make sure all my law students come to this exhibit. I took pictures of the art and I’m going to show it to the students. I was so impressed.

I hope this exhibit gets to be displayed in more public areas, such as libraries. It is very powerful.

I brought the youth group from my church to this exhibit. They were in awe of what they saw and felt blessed that they got to be a part of this special event.

I had tears throughout this exhibit. The uniform piece on Transformation affected me the most. The idea that you could transform your life into something wonderful – that’s where I cried the most.