‘Unchained Voices’ art exhibit rebounds after organizational changes

BOULDER, Colo. — Hector Castillo is an artist. At five years old, he started drawing scenes from his favorite cartoon shows. Now 37, his artwork has been displayed at several galleries — most recently at the Boulder Public Library.

But Castillo, like all of the artists whose work adorns the library’s gallery space, will never visit the exhibit himself. The Unchained Voices exhibit features work created by incarcerated artists across Colorado, giving them the opportunity to showcase and sell their work even as they remain behind bars.

“Even though we're in a community outside of a larger community, it's a way to show that there's people still inside who love art just as much as people as someone who's outside,” Castillo said. “[Art] is a way for therapy. I have used art as a side hustle. It also is a way to express myself.”

Unchained Voices — formerly Chained Voices — has existed as an advocacy project since 2015, founded by a group of social works and defense attorneys who noticed the talent and financial need of their incarcerated clients.

In 2020, the project partnered with the DU Prison Arts Initiative (DUPAI). Forensic social worker Hillary Vervalin, a founding member on the Unchained Voices committee, said the partnership helped elevate the grassroots projects by facilitating communication and payment to the artists and making it easier to obtain the artwork from the correctional facilities. 

This year, Unchained Voices is no longer a part of DUPAI. 

In August 2023, the Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC) did not renew its contract with DUPAI to extend their partnership. This year’s Unchained Voices exhibit, which opened on May 16 and will run through June 22, was originally planned to open last September but was postponed following the change. 

Sarah McKenzie, one of the exhibit’s organizers, said many of the artists involved with the typically-annual exhibit have come to rely on it for funds and community connection — which is why she and the rest of the Unchained Voices committee and organizers were determined to make it happen this year.

“When you are incarcerated, you really can feel that your existence no longer has meaning for the greater public and you don't have a way of connecting with the greater public,” said McKenzie, who taught art inside correctional facilities through DUPAI. 

“It can't be overstated how important it is to these artists to know that people they have never met before are spending time looking at their artwork,” she said.

Without the support of DUPAI, Vervalin said that putting together this year’s exhibit was reminiscent of its grassroots beginnings, which felt discouraging.

No longer able to post flyers inside the correctional facilities to advertise the exhibit to artists, the organizers relied on word of mouth between those who had previously been involved. There are 57 artists involved with this year’s show, which is much fewer than previous years. While partnered with DUPAI, the show featured more than 150 artists, according to DUPAI’s website.

This year’s exhibit features fewer three-dimensional art pieces because the organizers weren’t able to pick up the artwork directly from the facilities. The artists had to pay to ship their art and find creative ways to package it, including using discarded cardboard boxes to create a package big enough to fit a large painting.

To pay the artists after their work sells, Vervalin said the organizers will likely go back to using JPay, a money transfer and messaging service. The service charges a fee, which Vervalin said they try to offset through donations or by raising the price of the artwork.