Prisoners Find Artistic Escape With Drawings

They gaze out at the viewer from plain white envelopes, handkerchiefs or letter paper. They are pencil-and-ink drawings of Latino men in charro hats and with thick, drooping mustaches, or sensual women with cascades of hair and penetrating eyes.

There are eagles and hourglasses, hands thrust through prison bars and holding a Bible, luxuriant roses and grim prison towers.

The artworks, framed and hanging from the walls of the Homeland Neighborhood Cultural Center in Long Beach, are by Latino inmates from California prisons and California Youth Authority facilities.

Most were created for wives and sweethearts as expressions of love, longing, religious faith, emotional confusion, or the anger and frustration inherent in living behind bars. In all, 151 works by 17 artists--11 of them still confined--are on view in “Prison Envelope Art: Imagery in Motion.”

At left, Lorena Trejo and her 2-year-old daughter, Lycette, view artwork mailed to them by Lorena’s boyfriend, John (Puppet) Trejo.

Dixie Swift, cultural program supervisor for the Long Beach Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine, said the show documents an art form begun by Latino prisoners in the Southwest during the 1940s.

The free exhibition continues through April 9 at the city-operated cultural center at 1295 Gaviota Ave., just off Anaheim Street. Hours are noon to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Information: (310) 421-9431, Ext. 3385.