Seven students incarcerated at Salt Lake Valley Youth Center were invited to choose an inspiring artist to make a portrait of. They chose American singer and songwriter Jelly Roll, who was incarcerated as a young person and went on to become a three-time CMT award winner and Grammy nominee. He’s played concerts in youth detention centers and has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to support at-risk youth.

This collective drawing was exhibited as part of an exhibition at the University of Utah's Gittins Gallery, along with several individual drawings.

Photo credit: Robin Pendergrast

During a period when public exhibitions were temporarily paused, I facilitated an exhibition swap between two Salt Lake City area youth detention centers. Each center viewed an in-person exhibition of artworks created by students at the other.

With their cameras off to protect their identities, the two groups presented and discussed their artwork over Zoom, offering praise, insight, and supportive artistic commentary to their peers.

I invited nine students at the Nassau County Juvenile Detention Center to make a large-scale drawing, and after some discussion, they chose to draw a still from the music video "The Bigger Picture" by Lil Baby.

One student wrote about their choice of this song for their artwork:

"The song is a powerful song because it’s about how the cops are abusing their power and they prejudge Black people, assuming they’re suspicious or violent. Lil Baby talks about how tragic George Floyd’s death is and how the system is corrupt. We should not judge people by their skin color, but by their mind. Certain cops see Black people and dehumanize us without thinking twice. They hear us say 'I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe' and keep going. The system is messed up and we need more good people to fix it."

I then submitted students' artwork to No Kids in Prison's inaugural magazine, where it was featured on the cover. Each student received a copy of the magazine.

The piece was also featured at BronxArtSpace as part of an exhibition for the anniversary of the closure of Spofford Detention Center.

For my first project with students at the Nassau County Juvenile Detention Center, I obtained funding to create a mural with youth in a style they liked. “Everybody is Somebody” was conceptualized, designed, and painted by 13 incarcerated youth.

Students reached consensus for a visual theme very quickly, using images from pop art and graffiti as inspiration.

They also wanted to include a phrase at the top, and the one pictured here was chosen by students unanimously. But it evoked discussion: Most students advocated for it as an imaginative, aspirational sentiment for the world, a way that they feel it should be. But one student also voiced criticism at including a phrase that doesn’t reflect the way he feels the world actually works, the way it is now, at this moment. He didn't feel he could include in his artwork a phrase that isn't already true.

That student’s criticism surfaced questions in the group about who is allowed to imagine, who is allowed to even conceive of changes to the world we live in.

I invited seven youth at Horizon Juvenile Detention Center in the Bronx to create a large-scale drawing, and they chose to depict Knicks' player O.G. Anunoby's tip-in during Game 4 of the 2026 NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs. Anunoby scored a game-winning shot to bring the Knicks to a 107–106 victory.

Currently, I'm making efforts to get this image seen by the NBA.

I invited students at Farmington Bay Juvenile Detention Center to make artwork for a public exhibition. One student had the idea for the theme, which became the artwork’s title. Another student imagined the visual format of a strip of film, and both these ideas resonated with the whole group. Each student drew a panel in charcoal representing a personal story, encapsulating issues including family, identity, gun violence, and loneliness.

When thinking about what they wanted people to take away from their artwork, students said they hope that people who have experienced similar events and circumstances might not feel so alone.

I invited seven students at the Nassau County Juvenile Detention Center to create a piece of public artwork that they could then donate to an organization of their choosing.

We started with choosing a theme they wanted to address, and after a little brainstorming, one student suggested a mental health organization. The idea took hold within the group. Each student made a drawing about mental health, we arranged the drawings in a circle, and then I had the artwork professionally fabricated.

But the student who had originally suggested the idea asked, Why are we giving this artwork to them? We're the ones in a tough place - why aren't they doing anything for us?

I mentioned this student’s question to the local organization students chose to donate the piece to, the Mental Health Association of Nassau County, and, upon receiving the artwork, came to the detention center and offered students incarcerated there a free mental health first aid training.

Once I had gotten permission for incarcerated youth in the state of Utah to sell artwork, I created a program at two different detention centers for students to design and paint their own earrings, rearview mirror ornaments, and pins.

Pieces were sold at two public sales events, and youth artists received 100% of sales through trust funds accounts created by Juvenile Justice and Youth Services in the state of Utah.