Prisoner Art
North Ohio Federal Public Defender’s Office Exhibit
Close to 300 pieces of framed prisoner art is on exhibit in the Akron, Toledo, and Cleveland offices of the Federal Public Defender, Dennis Terez, and is open to the public. These select pieces of art have been on exhibit in Canton, London, and are featured in the Prison Coffee Table Book Project anthologies. The collection will hang through 2013, and then likely in a Cleveland or Columbus gallery. This is an unprecedented collaboration with Carol E. Briney and the US Federal Government.
Acrylic, by John Sepik
What is Mushfake?
Mushfake is prison slang for making objects out of cast-off or less-useful materials. The term mushfake is usually applied to art pieces and refers to how they are constructed. Often the art is made of toothpicks, match sticks, Popsicle sticks and carpenter glue – using only sandpaper and nail clippers for tools. Mushfake objects have to be assembled, because of limited storage space inside prisons. Examples of mushfake objects are clocks, motorcycles, vintage trains, eagles, rattle snakes, roses, jewelry boxes, horses pulling stage coaches, and even playable pianos.