N.Y. Ends Sales, Show of Inmate Art
Andrea Bostrom
have one:
N.Y. Ends Sales, Show of Inmate Art
By RIK STEVENS
.c The Associated Press
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - The Department of Correctional Services has discontinued
its annual inmate art show and banned the sale of art produced in prisons amid
an uproar over a serial killer who profited from his works.
Corrections spokesman James Flateau confirmed Friday that the ``Corrections on
Canvas'' show, held for 35 years in the Legislative Office Building in Albany,
has been eliminated.
At the same time, Corrections Commissioner Glenn Goord ordered, effective
immediately, that the state's 67,000-plus inmates are not allowed to profit
from their art or handicraft, though they can still produce it.
Inmates, who buy their own art supplies, had been allowed to keep half the
proceeds from their sales in the nine-day show, with the other half going to
the state Crime Victims Board.
Last year, $5,395 went to the Crime Victims Board, bringing the total over the
past 16 years to more than $45,000, Flateau said.
``It was designed to allow inmates to show that during incarceration, they were
finding positive ways to use their time in a manner that was felt contributed
to rehabilitation,'' Flateau said. ``In more recent years, the show has been
perceived by some as the state providing a forum for inmates to profit from
their crimes.''
Last year, a portrait of the late Princess Diana was among 10 sketches and
paintings by convicted serial killer Arthur Shawcross selling for up to $540
each.
Relatives of Shawcross' victims were outraged. Shawcross, 56, is serving a
250-year sentence for killing 11 Rochester-area women a decade ago.
Robert Gangi, executive director of the Correctional Association of New York,
called the ban a ``blow to the rehabilitative process, at least for those
inmates who produce attractive art.''
Gangi said most inmate artists are not predatory or dangerous, and selling
their art helped rehabilitating inmates ``increase their sense of themselves.''
After the uproar over Shawcross, Gov. George Pataki directed Goord to review
the rules to disallow participation by notorious violent criminals. Goord took
the directive one step further and barred it for all inmates.
AP-NY-03-29-02 1826EST
Andrea