Bringing the absent into the spotlight

A patron scans an excerpt at the entrance of the exhibition. (Melissa Behling/Madison Commons)

Sounds of quiet musings whispered through the air at the Artists in Absentia exhibition on Thursday, March 3. Patrons spoke to each other in hushed tones as they explored various forms of art from men who could only be present through their creative processes.

The exhibit is part of the Bubbler’s Artists-in-Residence program hosted at Madion’s Central Library. It brings the music, creative writing and dramatic pieces of the men at Oakhill Correctional Institution into the community’s consciousness.  

Assistant professor Jeremy Morris, in the UW-Madison Communication Arts department, helped bring the exhibition to life. As the volunteer audio engineer, Morris recorded 17 songs, 15 creative writing pieces and two theater pieces for the exhibition.

“There’s certainly themes of change [in their work], of accepting responsibility and trying to make better decisions. But there’s also undercurrents of anger and frustration as well,” Morris said.  

Morris has prior experience in audio recording and engineering from podcasting in Montreal, where he worked with a wide range of musicians.

“It’s quite a vulnerable experience, sharing your work with people who don’t know you,” Morris said. “So some artists are a lot more nervous or hesitant. But all the guys [at Oakhill] were incredibly well-prepared and also excited and enthusiastic about the project.”  

Morris was impressed that they willing to share “really quite raw and personal experiences” with the community. “Dying Will” by Andron L. described his confinement in a 374 brick-layered cell with a steel door that felt like a tomb, repeatedly questioning “is this death?”

Visitors watched a documentary created by Marc Kornblatt of Refuge Films about the creation of the exhibition. (Melissa Behling/Madison Commons)

At the opening reception, filmmaker Marc Kornblatt (Refuge Films) showcased his documentary about the creation of the exhibit. Kornblatt, along with exhibition coordinator and volunteer instructor José Vergara, also showed the documentary to the artists at Oakhill.

Marilea Groves, Senior Recreation Leader at Oakhill, was pleased with the documentary’s impact on the men. “[Watching the documentary] was pretty special and moving because the guys were just taken aback. Because some of them had never even heard themselves sing or their voices on tape,” she said.

“I too am America,” a powerful song by Anthony M. and John G. featured in the documentary, addressed broken American dreams – from those living in poverty to children with separated parents to the prison population. 

Anthony’s lyrics shared the pain of his child being born while he was incarcerated, and his one wish to be able to go back in time and stretch out his adolescence that ended when he was arrested.

The guitar and piano accompaniment compliment Anthony’s singing, “Oh, beautiful for spacious skies that’s full of broken homes.”

“What they are feeling really comes out in the music,” said audio engineer Morris. But he also acknowledged that a few men had to censor some of their true feelings for their work to be approved for the exhibition.

“Their material gets screened before it was allowed to be recorded, so how much they’re writing versus what they really want to say – there’s always going to be a question,” he said.

Groves, who runs leisure time activities like art, music and community service, helped gather the group of artists who shared their work in the exhibition.  

“They are working really hard to move in a positive direction when they get out.  A lot of them work on community service programs to give back to the community,” Groves said.  

One way the men at Oakhill are doing that is through the exhibition. They decided to auction their art work and donate the money to the Shabazz High School art department.

“The men wanted to make sure the money went towards art education and, preferably, to a youth organization of some sort,” volunteer instructor Vergara said. “They’re very aware of the value of arts education and wanted to make a contribution to that field.”

The artwork included a range of subjects. (Melissa Behling/Madison Commons)

The Artists in Absentia exhibition will be on display at Central Library’s Bubbler throughout March. It will move to other libraries in April and May, including the Town of Oregon where Oakhill is located.

“I think [the exhibition inspires] a wider discussion about what kind of services are available to incarcerated people and larger issues about incarceration rates in Wisconsin and the U.S. in general,” Morris said. “There are also questions of who’s in these spaces and why, and the structural inequalities that make it so that they’re there.”

A social worker at Oakhill said the exhibition “calls attention to a forgotten population of thousands of people with skills and talents who deserve our compassion and guidance. Their strengths need to be supported so they can re-enter in a way that they can be productive.”