"She Sings Blessings to the Iron House" by Benjamin Lewis, Jr. : California (colored pens on paper)
Visual “Voices”
Add to Alcatraz Allure
By Valerie Shaw
B
eginning with the scenic ferry
ride to the mysterious forlorn
island, and then peeking
into the isolated and decaying cell
blocks which once housed some of
America’s most notorious criminals,
none of the more than 100,000
visitors who will tour Alcatraz this
spring will suspect that the “band
plays on.”
Before entering the Alcatraz Band
Practice Room, almost at the end of
40 MARIN ARTS & CULTURE
the tour, visitors often wax quixotic
when they juxtapose the island’s
tranquil unspoiled natural habitat
and breathtaking vistas with their
walk through the steel and stone
three-story labyrinth, as they form
deep and lasting memories of this
monument to the penal system of
the 19th and mid-20th centuries.
But within the Band Practice Room,
adjacent to the Alcatraz book and
gift store, visitors will be startled
to discover uptown gallery-quality
artwork on display from inmates;
some are serving life sentences,
almost all are self-taught, and all
are incarcerated in penitentiaries
across the United States.
“The ‘Art Escape at Alcatraz’ exhibit
is a collection of more than 40
pieces of art, some colorful and
bold, some stark, dramatic and
monochromatic,” says Leslie Lakes,
curator and executive director