JustArts Gallery
Tulsa, OK
Elevating the creative voices of people confined to carceral institutions across the US.
MessageCollection: Jerry Metcalf
Jerry Metcalf is a self-taught artist, activist, and writer who has been warehoused in Michigan prisons for the past 30 years. In 1995, he committed a horrible act of gun violence for which he is truly and deeply sorry. He is now a pacifist who has devoted his life to making the world a better, more-inclusive place where the Arts shine and happiness matters.
If you wish to read some of his writing (fiction, poetry, essays, articles), view or purchase his art, buy one of his books, or listen to his
podcast, you may do so by visiting him at Facebook.com/jerryametcalf.jr or X@JerryMetcalfJr1 or
Instagram.com/jerryametcalf_artist.writer or Jamartgallery.etsy.com or YouTube C
hannel: XV3 The Red Zone, Live From the Plantation podcast.
Artist statement
“Having been incarcerated at such a young age, my first several years in this concrete and razor-wire jungle were tough. I spent most of my time fending off predators trying to rape me, gangs trying to recruit me, and an alcohol addiction attempting to kill me.
I eventually found solace in the arts.
I started off scribbling poems on scrap pieces of paper. Then, during a year-long stint in solitary confinement where I almost died due to smoke inhalation when another convict burned himself alive, I discovered my love of writing fiction. It kept me sane. A few years later,
I stumbled across one of The Marshall
Project's flyers seeking nonfiction submissions and gave it a whirl. And of course, I fell in love with writing nonfiction as well.
My journey wasn't done there, though. One day, while fuming over some stupid bullshit, an artist friend of mine suggested I take my anger out on a piece of canvas. It sounded ridiculous, but, always on the hunt for methods of improvement,
I gave it a whirl.
And holy fuck was he right! Art changed my life. Instead of expressing anger through violence,
I now express it through abstract art by flinging and smashing paint against canvas. When sad, I lift myself up through the process of creating something beautiful, something special, something from deep within. And when feeling unloved and homesick, I drag wet paint around the canvas with my fingers as I daydream of a better life. A life where it hasn’t been decades since I've felt the brush of a woman's lips against my own,
or breathed air untainted by the stench of captivity, or gazed upon a star-filled night sky,
or eaten healthy, unprocessed food, or, well... you get the point.
Soon though. I'm now on the downslope. My time in this cage is coming to an end.
My name is Jerry Metcalf and I wish to make the world a better place. If you do too, please join me on social media simply because together we are stronger. And remember, I love you, and so does the Goddess Celeste, Mother to all things physical. Including you, my lovely friend.
