The South Shore News & Tribune
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Published: July 9, 2008
RIVERVIEW - RIVERVIEW - Cylinda McKibbin sat quietly at a work table in the corner of the room, carefully swirling a brush into paint colors in a dime-store paint set.
The 50-year-old Sarasota native smiled and hummed softly along to classical music playing in the background while she painted a watercolor beach scene.
The serene setting put to paper was a stark contrast to McKibbin's surroundings: a makeshift classroom in a modular building on the grounds of the Hillsborough Correctional Institution in Riverview.
McKibbin, one of 292 inmates incarcerated at the women's prison on County Road 672 south of Big Bend Road, was sentenced in 1997 to 20 years for manslaughter. She attends weekly art classes taught there by Brandon artist Minnette Webster.
Many inmates said during a recent class that the time they spend painting and drawing serves as a mental escape from the harsh realities of prison life.
"I'm totally into it," McKibbin said. "There is no stress. Sometimes I don't even hear people talking to me."
Webster launched the art program as a tentative volunteer effort four years ago. Since then, the class has blossomed into a well-established program that dozens of inmates choose to participate in each year.
They attend the class for about an hour a week and have access to the art classroom a few hours every day to work on their projects.
Webster, an outreach instructor for the Hillsborough County Arts Council, teaches three classes one day a week. She is surprised and delighted by the popularity and longevity of the program.
"I thought it would be kind of fun to go out and do a little drawing with them," Webster said. "I never thought it would become this big."
Many of the inmates' paintings and drawings are displayed in an exhibit in the prison's administration building. The exhibit changes as the women create new artwork to display.
And more than 300 works created during the past year will be on exhibit this month at Center Place Fine Arts and Civic Association in Brandon, in the Brandon Regional Library building.
Assistant warden Robin Smith said the program gives the prisoners an opportunity to express themselves, if only on paper.
"It lets them get away and be by themselves and do something creative," Smith said. "Plus, a lot of them don't get visitors. It gives them something to do."
McKibbin, who has participated in the class since 2006, said the class has helped many troubled, withdrawn women become more outgoing.
"They jump into it with two feet and light up like lights, like little children," McKibbin said. "It builds their self-esteem and gives them a sense of worth."
Doreen Carone, 60, worked on a painting of a sunset, copying it from a page torn from a magazine.
"I never even drew a stick person before," Carone said. "I never did art."
Carone, who is serving a 10-year-sentence for grand theft and passing bad checks, said when she works on an art project, time seems to stop and she is in a world of her own.
"It gets your mind off what's going on at home and in the compound," she said. "You're not worrying."
Wendy Owens, 34, followed Webster's instructions to use big, sweeping strokes to draw a charcoal picture of a vase filled with flowers.
Convicted in 2006 of grand theft, passing bad checks, trafficking in stolen property and possession of a controlled substance, Owens said that while she awaits her release in 2011, the class keeps her busy and gives her something to send home to her mother in Cape Canaveral. She said her mom has framed several pictures and displays them in her living room.
"Her favorite one is of a fairy in a fishbowl with two little fish," Owens said. "There's a cat trying to get the fish, and he has wings and he's floating in a bubble."
Cherylanne Harrelson, 47, said she finds peace of mind in the art room.
"In prison, you're told when you can shower, when you can eat and when you have to go to sleep," Harrelson said. "Everything is so controlled. You have no free will."
Sentenced in 1998 to 15 years for forgery and bad checks, Harrelson transferred in May from a Georgia prison to the Riverview facility, which is a faith- and character-based institution. Unlike traditional prisons, it is one of three Florida correctional facilities that employ religious instruction and activities to reform and rehabilitate inmates.
"They have so many things to offer here," she said. "It's not just doing time; it's making good use of your time."
Sherry Cowdner, a working artist who lives in Sun City Center and volunteers as Webster's assistant, said she marvels at how many inmates discover in the class that they have artistic talent.
"It's so exciting to see how they develop as artists," Cowdner said. "It's like they blossom."
Many of the women create drawings and paintings that depict their children or scenes from their past. It is an outlet, Webster said, for many struggling to cope with prison life and personal problems.
On display in the prison lobby is a pencil drawing of a small child tucked into bed sound asleep, clutching a toy. A pastel drawing portrays a homey-looking mailbox with letters and hearts spilling out into the air. And a detailed watercolor painting features an old bicycle with a wicker handlebar basket filled with freshly picked flowers.
Webster recalled one woman who drew a picture to help her deal with a troublesome man in her life. In the drawing, the man gazes into a mirror but has no reflection.
"She said he had no soul," Webster said.
BEAUTY BEHIND THE BARS
WHAT: More than 300 works of art created by inmates in the art program at the Hillsborough Correctional Institution in Riverview will be on display at Center Place Fine Art and Civic Association.
WHERE: 619 Vonderburg Drive, Brandon
WHEN: Through July; reception to be held 3:30-5:30 p.m. Sunday
CONTACT: Center Place art coordinator Dawn Galia, (813) 685-8888 or cpbrandon@verizon.net
Reporter Laura Frazier can be reached at (813) 657-4523 or lfrazier@tampatrib.com.
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