Families of imprisoned hit the wall

Unspoken stories of pain, frustration and loss are about to be told - stories of families whose loved ones are behind bars.

The Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, partnering with the Pennsylvania Prison Society, will tell the stories of these families in a mural - "Family Interrupted" - to be painted at 709 W. Dauphin St., in North Philadelphia.

Representatives from Mural Arts, the Prison Society and state officials, including Sen. Vincent Hughes and Rep. Ronald Waters, spoke about the project to a crowd of about 60 in City Hall yesterday.

"A neighborhood will be transformed," said Jane Golden, executive director of the Mural Arts Program said. "And people will be talking about a difficult issue on the table."

The mural, which could be completed by October, will be designed with ideas from inmates and their families, and painted by a dozen former convicts, said Robyn Buseman, director of the restorative-justice program for Mural Arts.

The Mural Arts Program will place 12 painted mailboxes inside prison visiting rooms and around the city, so people can write down their feelings about and experiences of having a loved one locked behind bars.

Then, lead artist of the mural, Eric Okdeh, will read the slips of paper and begin his design, based on what each person shares.

Syreeta Smith, 34, of West Philadelphia, said she wishes that a program like Family Interrupted existed when her husband, Salon, was serving 14 years in Graterford State Prison.

Smith traveled one hour by bus every Saturday to visit her husband. At times, she said, the guards would make it difficult for her to see him by making her change clothes that they deemed inappropriate, like jeans with zippers up the sides.

"I just wanted a voice," Smith said. "It was the most painful thing, not having one. It was bad enough that Salon wasn't home."

With the project's $60,000 budget, funded by a federal grant, city funds and private donations, the Mural Arts Program also will hold educational workshops for families, as well as meetings with lawmakers who are open to hearing suggestions about the state's prison system.

One of the program's goals: to keep the city's youth off the streets and out of prison.

"If we really do care about public safety, we need more programs like the arts," Waters said.