Negative stereotypes and stigmas are some things many of us who are incarcerated have become accustomed to throughout our journey. I get it, it comes with the territory. When you cause harm, it’s not up to you whether or not the person(s) and community forgive you. That’s up to the people. All one can ever do is genuinely apologize for the harm caused, accept accountability for their actions, and take the proper steps to ensure that the harm does not happen again. And hopefully along the way, there’s some healing going on as well.
Nevertheless, it’s a battle every day for us on the inside to truly show who we really are when we’re already up against peoples’ personal biases and stupid reality shows that thrive on highlighting the drama that fuel these negative stereotypes and stigmas in the first place. Yeah, I’m looking at you, “Love After Lockup.”
This month I’m sharing a “conversation” I was able to have with Billy Gumabon and Lawrence “L” Jenkins, founding members of an art collective, primarily comprised of incarcerated artists currently doing time at Stafford Creek Corrections Center, called the Solidarity Art Collective (SAC). Not only have they been able to create a platform for their peers to showcase their art; they’ve been able to provide safe spaces for others to heal through art and other cultural expressions. Oh, yeah… these two guys also just happen to be my brothers.
What follows is a conversation about their relationship with art and a little bit more about SAC. They also share their insight about a negative experience they recently had with Seattle’s very own Burke Museum in which the museum, who claims to promote “equity and inclusion” by amplifying historically marginalized voices, acted more in line with one of those reality shows I mentioned earlier, rather than a community ally. After working together for over nine months on an art exhibit and asking SAC to produce brand new artwork to display, Burke Museum leadership decided in the eleventh hour to exclude a majority of the artists from the project due to their current convictions. In response, SAC honorably chose to withdraw from the project and stand in solidarity with their members.
Once again, the Burke Museum tried to remind us that we’ll never be anything more than our worst mistake. However, they didn’t realize they actually achieved the opposite!
Free Palestine! Until next time, keeping dreaming!
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Felix Sitthivong: First and foremost I’d be remiss if I didn’t show y’all mad love for all the work y’all have been doing and staying true to community liberation. So… LOVE! Do you wanna take a moment and maybe share a little bit about yourselves with our readers? And what your relationship with art is?
Billy Gumabon: I appreciate the love, bro! You already know! My name is Billy Gumabon, I’m a second-generation Filipino, I’m currently incarcerated for 35 years and have served 18 years within the carceral system.
I’m currently taking my bachelor’s in liberal arts. I’m an organizer and artist for the Solidarity Art Collective (SAC) and the Community Liberation Collective (CLC). I’m also the former president of the APICAG (SCCC chapter) and have organized with the Cultural Collective. Advocating and organizing within prison and in community have been a big part of my life for the last decade of my sentence. But art has always been right here by my side through it all.
Really, art is EVERYTHING to me, it’s been my lifeline and heartbeat over the years. It’s how I’ve survived and supported myself in prison. It’s where I go to process things, to heal wounds, and to find hope within these concrete walls.
When I create, when I draw… I’m engaging in a deeply personal and radical act of healing and resistance.
Art has been a bridge that connects me to myself, and has connected me to my community, my family, and to people in ways that has transcended these prison walls.
Lawrence Jenkins: You already know, man. The movement needs us to remain on the front line. It’s good to be reconnected — especially on this front! Thanks for making this interview possible and sharing space.
For those who don’t know me, my name is “L” and I’m a farmer, teacher, artist, organizer and activist. I am a co-founder of Solidarity Art Collective. I’ve been an artist my entire life — I got really into poetry, rapping and acting when I was a teenager. The courts used my lyrics against me on the case I’m serving time on now. I stopped writing in 2012. I taught myself how to draw in 2015. Art is many things for me – medicine, restoration, resistance, liberation. Art is my balance.
FS: That’s wassup! Don’t even trip, y’all know we gotta stick together! “On the Fence Line” belongs to all of us, so your voices will always have a home here! I know you two played a significant role in developing the Solidarity Art Collective. Could you speak a little bit about what SAC is and how y’all came about creating such a unique group? And maybe like what the purpose is?
LJ: Solidarity Art Collective is a collective community of incarcerated artists and our families, friends and comrades on the outside. We’ve been building up an art community/movement inside for about 10 years. Before we started SAC we had a peer-led art class. We organized annual prison art shows here at the prison [Stafford Creek Corrections Center]. And many of us are actively involved with the cultural groups/events here so we are constantly making cultural art year-round. We’ve built a solid community/movement over the years. But the pandemic really pulled us a lot closer. That is when we realized we really had to “BE” a community and a movement with/for each other. And we had to leverage our creativity through visual art and writing to draw in attention and support from the outside. It was solidarity, empowerment through art and collective self-determination that brought us to this point.
So naturally we started to envision how far we needed to expand in order for us to reach connections, opportunities and resources on the outside. That would allow us to use our talents to provide for ourselves financially, to engage in art opportunities that open up our full potential and power, and allow us to continue on our paths of transformation and liberation. SAC was built out of mutual aid, love and solidarity. This is how we practice it.
FS: Yo, y’all are super filthy for this one! Respect on the highest level! So we’re here to also discuss what kinda happened between you guys and the Burke Museum and them flaking on y’all at the last second. Super corny by the way! Would you mind taking a moment to explain to our readers the history between SAC and the museum, how y’all got connected in the first place, and like what actually happened?
LJ: Initially, I heard about the Burke Museum through a student organizer at the UW [University of Washington] who was doing mutual aid and solidarity work with prisoners. I was told about a possible opportunity at the Burke Museum that could lead to ongoing paid exhibits for incarcerated artists. We were introduced to the executive director and staff of Heritage and Culture department. We envisioned an exhibit of cultural art that was centered around each participating artists’ culture and one correlating artifact from the Burke Museum archive that would be displayed alongside each artists’ series of work.
For SAC this was huge because this would have been our first museum showcase and our first time doing a “collective” cultural art exhibit ever. Most importantly, an exhibit that our loved ones/community could see in person — at an actual museum! A well-known one at that.
For better context on why this was so big for us. Up until this point, those of us who do art for cultural events [do it] inside. We mostly use low-quality print–outs or book or magazine clippings for reference materials. We rarely are able to get photos of the showcases we put together for cultural events. And we are not allowed to gift or give art away to our loved ones and community at these events. So the access that the Burke Museum was opening up was very important. Especially for incarcerated artists who want to be active in their community by taking part in preserving their history and culture through art/storytelling. In a time where censorship campaigns are being weaponized against cultural art and education across the U.S. Our situation highlights what restricted access looks like. I’m not gonna go into the ongoing struggle for cultural freedom inside (hopefully one day we can circle back and speak on it).
Let me finish by saying… this experience with the Burke Museum could have been transformative for everyone involved. And a powerful act of liberation. SAC is all about pushing these lines in the community. We felt strong alignment with the folks we were working with throughout the 9 months of planning. It’s unfortunate that the museum’s leadership made a last-minute decision that would have excluded 7 out of 8 participating artists.
FS: For clarity, ultimately, whose decision from the Burke Museum was it to change the criteria of who was eligible to participate in the show?
LJ: The decision, which would have excluded 7 out of the 8 participating artists, came from Burke Museum “Leadership”. The first exhibit (which would have been my coffee painting series) was scheduled to go up in the afternoon on July 29th. Sydney, a SAC organizer on the outside, was just about to catch a metro bus to the museum to help with installment. She was told by the folks we had been collaborating with that something had come up with “Leadership” and to wait for them to call back. As soon as the news was delivered about the last-minute decision. Sydney contacted me and asked what we should do? And my response was easy, “We are gonna stand on our guiding principle SOLIDARITY and pull out. It’s going to be all of us or none of us. No one will be left behind.”
I shared the news throughout the collective on the inside and everyone was 100% on board with the decision and also deeply affected by the situation.
FS: That’s really disappointing of them, but I really commend y’all for standing firm in your values. That’s hard to do when we’re already up against so much and our community has been historically marginalized and silenced. How do y’all think this decision by the Burke Museum contributes to the negative narratives about those who are currently incarcerated? How does it make y’all feel?
BG: Honestly, in that moment, I was so mad and hurt, I really wanted to rip up my artwork. I wanted to destroy the very thing I spent countless hours creating and poured so much of myself into because, for a moment, it felt like none of it had been enough to make me worthy of being seen.
For me, this experience wasn’t just about reconnecting with my culture or reclaiming a part of myself through art, it was also about finding belonging and connection within community, a community that one day I will eventually reintegrate back into.
I really believed that our stories through our art were going to be seen in a place that claims to be a space for culture, history, education and community connection.
That’s why the sudden decision was confusing.
Think about it, there’s a contradiction when a museum like the Burke, an institution that holds much of the history, objects and stories that belong to our ancestors and that exist as a space for cultural exchange and learning, chooses exclusion over inclusion.
A museum should be a place where people are invited to look deeper, ask questions, to learn, and to engage with stories and experiences different from their own. Instead, we were silenced and excluded before our art had a chance to speak for itself.
The reality is that this isn’t something new to us.
It’s similar to the ways institutions like DOC determine when, where, and how incarcerated people are allowed to express their culture. Institutions with all the power and resources continue to decide which parts of our identities are acceptable to display and which parts remain hidden.
It’s the same song, with just a different tune.
The Burke’s decision to exclude artists who just wanted to express their cultural identity through their art within their space, really felt like a rejection not just of our art, but our humanity.
It reinforced the very traumas we face every day from the very systems that seek to marginalize and dehumanize us.
It sent a message that my story, my heritage, my capacity for healing through art are somehow less valuable or less deserving of recognition.
It felt like a judgment and condemnation that disregards the possibility of redemption and perpetuates the very stigma we are all working so hard to overcome.
They have sent a message that our worst moments, our past, defines us entirely, disregarding the progress we have made and the potential we hold.
I honestly feel when we judge an artist before experiencing the art, we are creating walls where bridges could have been built.
We lose the opportunity for connection. We lose the opportunity for empathy. And we lose the opportunity to understand one another.
If society encourages people to change, to learn, to repair harm, to build and create, to contribute positively. What happens when they do exactly that and are still denied the opportunity to be seen beyond their convictions?
FS: Nah, that’s real talk right there, bro! That shit makes me mad for you! But if I know y’all, I know you’re already pushing through and not letting this hinder your work. So what’s next for SAC? How can our community support your work and is there a specific ask right now?
LJ: We are primarily an art collective, so we are always looking for ways to get more tapped in with the art community/market. We have done several arts walks and pop-up shows. This takes a lot of time for us to coordinate with each incarcerated artist on the logistical side. And on the labor side it’s intense on outside organizers to collect, spray, frame, transport, set-up, track sales/new contacts, take-down displays and take art back to storage area – all in one day. So we be leaning more towards venues – preferably galleries and museums – where we can leave art up for longer periods of time. The cultural art exhibit we curated is definitely an exhibit that we want to travel between Seattle and Tacoma. We have several animé artists — so getting a booth at a Comicon event would be huge. There are several more categories of art that we have in the collection that all could do well in bigger art venues.
SAC just received fiscal sponsorship from Shunpike so we’ll be able to utilize a lot more resources to build out SAC and get more rooted in the art world here in Washington.
Internally, we are currently looking for more organizers to help with day-to-day operations and events. We are still in the process of building out our online platforms and publications so that we can extend our reach/be more visible and accessible.
Soon, a group of SAC artists (myself, Billy and a few others) will be collaborating on movement art exhibits to raise awareness, educate community and empower movements that are pushing for human rights and liberation (inside and out). Be on the look out for Community Liberation Collective (CLC)!
We are still in the building stages.
FS: Amazing! I love what you guys are doing, man. It’s really inspiring. Real talk! I also wanna say that y’all definitely deserved better than what you got from the Burke Museum. But I also know firsthand how amazingly talented y’all are. So you’re gonna do just fine! Is there a way for community to contact y’all and potentially commission any art pieces? Or maybe just support your work in general? I really believe with all my heart that the world needs the type of healing your art provides.
BG: If folks want to connect for art they can reach me directly Securustech.net (Billy Gumabon #344209) or they can also reach me through IG: billyg_artistry and through the Solidarity Art Collective at solidarityartcollective.org. We are always looking for support and volunteers to assist us in the work.
LJ: Folks are more than welcome to reach out to me directly through Securus or snail mail. My contact info is:
Lawrence Jenkins #306665
H4-B-135- L
Stafford Creek Corrections Center
191 Constantine Way
Aberdeen, WA 98520
Email me through www.securustech.net
I’m well known for my portraits of revolutionary leaders. But animals are my favorite to draw. If anyone needs any cats or birds drawn on commission? Hit me up!
FS: Man, I’m definitely gonna be getting at y’all for some art. I hope my family discount card still works, though! Man, thank you guys again for taking the time to tell your story. I really hope community gets involved and shows y’all the love and support that you deserve. Unlike what the Burke Museum gave you. But I’ll save my thoughts on them for another conversation. Before we go, the floor is yours, is there anything else y’all wanna share or say to the people?
BG: Regardless of what happened with the Burke, we’re still ten-toes down and still looking forward, still creating, doing art and doing the work.
We walked away from that exhibition with the Burke not because our voice was silent, we walked away because we understood that our voice is stronger when we don’t leave anyone behind.
Within the SAC and CLC we stand on our values of transformative and healing justice.
We recognize that harm impacts everyone, and that healing requires our communities to confront difficult truths with compassion and courage.
While continuing to reimagine and work towards a world where we can create conditions where accountability, repair, community care and transformation is possible without having to rely on more policing, prisons, and continuing to perpetuate a culture of exclusion.
I’m not asking that we ignore harm, I’m just asking that we wrestle with it.
I’m just asking us to believe that people are more than the worst thing they have done, while never dismissing the harm those past actions caused.
Our art was never asking to erase history, it was asking people to witness what healing looks like. It was asking whether we actually believe that transformation is possible or if it’s something we just talk about when it’s comfortable.
Maraming Salamat, thank you very much for the opportunity to share our experience and our message with you and your readers.
I really hope that folks get connected and tap in to support the work! We’re committed to carrying our work into spaces where they will be welcomed, experienced, and honored.
LJ: I just want to end by saying thanks to all who show up in love and support for SAC/all of us inside. We got a lot of work to do and we got this. SOLIDARITY MOVES MOUNTAINS!!
FS: I couldn’t have said it any better myself. I love y’all, man! Keep doing what you’re doing. We got your backs.
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Felix Sitthivong is an incarcerated storyteller, community organizer, and founding member of the Peoples’ Empowerment Assembly for Collective Equity (PEACE). Sitthivong is also the former president and senior advisor for the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Awareness Group (APICAG). He is currently serving a 66-year sentence at the Washington Corrections Center in Shelton, WA. Reach him with questions for “On the Fence Line” via Securus (WA #354579) or write to him at Felix Sitthivong #354579, PO BOX 900, Shelton, WA 98584.
Felix Sitthivong is an incarcerated storyteller, community organizer, and founding member of the Peoples’ Empowerment Assembly for Collective Equity (PEACE). Sitthivong is also the former president and senior advisor for the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Awareness Group (APICAG). He is currently serving a 66-year sentence at the Washington Corrections Center in Shelton, WA. Reach him with questions for “On the Fence Line” via Securus (WA #354579) or write to him at Felix Sitthivong #354579, PO BOX 900, Shelton, WA 98584.
