University of Virginia Library

Fringe Of Society

Artists have always lived on
the fringe of society, and today
they are an elitist group. But
Mr. Markowski wanted his
special students to see the
artist in a different light, one
they could stand in an identify
with.

So he brought two books of
art to show to the inmates.
One was a collection of work
Van Gogh did while in an
asylum, and the other
contained work that Jackson
Pollock did under psychiatric care Mr.
Markowski also told them of
the taunts society has aimed at
the "abnormal" artist.
"I explained to them that
artists are individuals," he said.

After that first meeting, the
class began to work, with
confidence and expectation on
the part of student and teacher
alike. Now at every session
they work with a different
technique or medium.

Silence in the class is an
exception. "They ask a lot of
questions about what it's like
out here," Mr. Markowski
noted. When he told them that
he worked at the University,
they wanted to know what
building he taught in, how he
gets there and what street it is
on. "They're very interested in
landmarks," Mr Markowski
said. "It's their way of getting
out here."

Laughter is a pleasant
sound anywhere and in a jail
more so. But their humor has a
strange twist to it. It always
involves their humorless
situation.

For example, when I asked
one inmate if he likes to read,
he told me that he had read
200 books while in jail for a
year. When asked what type of
book he likes, he replied, "Law
books." It took a second to
sink in, and then it wasn't as
funny.

After just four sessions, it's
hard to tell where the class will
go. But Mr Markowski and Mrs.
Kennard have had a glimpse of
the potential of such a class for
the students. On June 11, their
work will be shown in one of
the rooms of the Second Street
Gallery. Cablevision will be
broadcasting a pre-filmed panel
discussion on the prison work
with both teachers and a
psychiatrist on June 17 for
"Sketchbook."

According to the students,
there is only one deficiency to
the class. It meets every other
week, and they want it every
day. As one student expressed
it, "I like the talking best." The
students seem to sense no
barrier between themselves and
their artist-friends.

* * *

"I will not listen to a
conqueror preaching to the
conquered."

K. Gibran

We're not trying to be some
goody two-show people doing
social work," Mr. Markowski
had commented as we were
driving to the city jail on an
exquisite, sunny afternoon.

I felt a little relieved.
Teaching art to felons might be
an art professor's way of
getting those brownie points
in. But there is a sincerity and
unfeigned realness in the
empathy that Mr. Markowski
and Mrs. Kennard show. It's in
the way they view their class.
For to them, the students are
not prisoners: they are men
who are in prison.