JustArts Gallery
Tulsa, OK
Elevating the creative voices of people confined to carceral institutions across the US.
MessageCollection: Scotty Scott
"My name is Scotty Scott, I’ve been in prison now for over 24 years. I have a life sentence. I started in the art world by tattooing, it came kinda naturally to me about 4 years after I got going in the art of tattooing my dad died of cirrhosis of the liver, and then my mother died a few short years after that from cancer! She really encouraged me in the few months before she passed on, I started doing a lot of different types of art for her so she could see how good I am. I wanted her to see I had changed, and I thought my art really showed that, so after she passed it’s all I do. It is my way of coping in this dark concrete and iron world, my psychologist says that’s why my art is so colorful. I still tattoo once in a while however I’m really doing a lot more with my art nowadays. Besides, I don't really care for the tattoo customers in here. Maybe when I get out some day I’ll pick that up again however for now my purpose is artwork and I love it! I spend every moment of every day fulfilling one of my mother’s last requests."
