"2020! Covid 19's effect on the year" - Blakelee Garrett

The artist is currently incarcerated in Colorado. He specializes in graffiti.

All original artworks are created by artists previously or currently incarcerated. They use whichever materials they have access to, and prove creative ingenuity beyond the norm. These original paintings and drawings are born in the heart of a prison cell, from the hands of an outsider artist to adorn the walls of your space. Each art piece is a one-of-a-kind that not only enhances your interior but also makes you actively participate in reforming the prison and criminal justice system.

The incarcerated artist receives 50% of the sales proceeds. The artists set their own prices based on the costs of materials (it can vary greatly from one facility to another), the time spent on the piece, their experience, and simply - what they think it’s worth. Alongside with offering a financial outlet, we aim to empower their confidence and reinstitute their status as human beings - not a number behind bars. For most, art is an escape, a path to self-discovery and healing. Through art, they can reconnect with society so the gap is not so unbridgeable when they get out. Through the sales, they can stay connected with their families, afford daily commissary items, pay societal debts, relieve the economic burden on their loved ones, and save up for the release date. So they have the financial means to get ahead of reinsertion and get a fair chance at that second chance.

8.5" x 5.5" | Pastels on Bristol paper

Hi, my name is Blakelee Garrett. I am a Colorado native and I love everything that comes along with it—hiking, camping, snowboarding, and even gold panning. Never mind the fact that I have never truly found anything aside from great experiences, while immersed in all the beauty Colorado can offer. I grew up in a small rural area east of Colorado Springs and attended an equally small school. As an adolescent I possessed an extreme apathy for learning in general, yet despite my minimal efforts I still somehow graduated high school and attended college for a few semesters. No doubt a favorable genetic inheritance deserves the merit more than I do. It was not until my mid-20s that knowledge began to feel important to me. I absolutely deserve the “I told you so” my mother would lovingly admonish me with, were she still with me. Nevertheless, my thirst for learning as much as I can retain has grown exponentially since then, particularly in science. I am utterly fascinated with understanding how things work and why things behave the way they do. Conversely, I also love losing myself in the abstract world of art. A world in which things do not necessarily need to be logical or defined. Art for me, is my retreat, my way of escaping a world often so chaotic. I find a place within myself where the constraints of this world no longer matter, and a blank canvas can become anything I want. Science may say I am manipulating matter to create an image, but the whole of the creation becomes so much more than that. The images may be a physical representation of an idea, a feeling or maybe even in some way become a distilled extension of your essence, your very being. There is something truly special about art of any kind. A mystical link that I do not think any amount of logic or reason will ever be able to truly express. Whatever art may be physically is one thing, but art to me is something that cannot be understood using words, only felt by the artist and hopefully by anyone who may see, read, or feel it. Art is my balance, the yin to my yang, my alternate universe, unfathomable, yet so clearly important to define who I am..