On Friday, June 29, a memo delivered to the cells in the condemned unit at Pontiac commanded all inmates to turn over all art supplies to the guards by July 6. No riot broke out, but as soon as the prisoners were let out of their cells for their daily constitutional, several lined up to use the phone. Some called their attorneys, a couple of the attorneys called the press.
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A couple of inmates had put in a call to Bill Ryan, the president of the Illinois Death Penalty Moratorium Project. Ryan speaks in a strong Kentucky twang and can sound both blunt and courtly in the same expression. With this one, he was merely blunt. “It’s stupid and shortsighted,” he said. He was surprised and dismayed that Donald Snyder, the director of the Illinois Department of Corrections, would sanction such a move. In fact, he said, knowing Snyder’s professionalism and his commitment to the three esses–safety, security, and sanitation–he could hardly believe it. No, Ryan said, “I don’t think he knows anything about this.” The dots between art and the esses didn’t connect. “Somebody there is using harrassment techniques,” Ryan thought. “Why? Because they can.”
Probably the most well-known paintings produced on any death row were the schlock clown portraits done by John Wayne Gacy. Yet several artists from Illinois prisons have acquired reputations outside the walls. Categorized without irony under the term “outsider art,” pieces by Michael Harms (known for his intricate carvings made from bars of Ivory soap), Harvey Ford (much of whose work is executed with burnt matches), and Hector Maisonet are all collected.
For the past three years, the Illinois Coalition Against the Death Penalty has sponsored a booth of death-row inmates’ paintings at an art fair outside the DuSable Museum (with all proceeds going to the offender’s family). This year’s fair is on July 14 and 15, and there isn’t a clown in the bunch. But there are several big cats. The animals on the canvas are never caged.
When contacted on the morning of July 9 and asked about the art supply ban, IDOC chief of communications Sergio Molina said a ban was under way but cautioned, “This issue isn’t entirely settled.”
