“Insider Art: Exploring the Arts Within Prison Environments, A Collection Work from Avenal State Prison” is the companion catalog to the exhibition, “Insider Art: Exploring the Arts Within Prison Environments” that was on display at M Street Graduate Studios in April. The catalog is published by The Press at California State University, Fresno and was produced by the Center for Creativity and the Arts.
“Insider Art” features over 100 mixed-media works, ranging from paintings, drawings, sculptures and other work. The artwork was created by men in prison art classes. It also includes behind-the-scenes photographs of prison life and the arts program by Fresno State professor Neil Chowdhury.
Dr. Cindy Urrutia, director of the Center for Creativity and the Arts, and Dr. Emma Hughes, chair of the Department of Criminology, edited the catalog. The book includes essays by Hughes, Urrutia and Rosemary Ndoh, the warden at Avenal State Prison; Lt. Doug Snell of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; and two of the artists — Joseph Frye and Eric Bergen, both of whom have been central figures in organizing the art classes at Avenal.
The exhibition was co-sponsored by the College of Social Sciences, the College of Arts and Humanities, the Department of Criminology, the Center for Creativity and the Arts, the Department of Art and Design and Project Rebound.
The exhibition is part of the Center for Creativity and the Arts’ theme for the year: “Voice and Silence: Expressions of the Human Spirit and Community.”
The catalog can be purchased for $15 via Amazon or by contacting Gail Freeman at 559.278.3056.
The College of Arts and Humanities at Fresno State 
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