Fine Arts students and young people in prison collaborate on an art project

Raúl García Hémonnet/Editor

At the end of February, the Madrid VI – Aranjuez Penitentiary Center hosted a special event. A total of 18 Fine Arts students from the URJC (Junior University of Jujuy) met with 12 young inmates at the center who had collaborated on a mural project organized by the university. This event was coordinated by Professor Elena Villamarín Fernández, who is grateful for the support and access provided by Elsa López García, Director of CP Madrid VI – Aranjuez, and Noelia Zárate Sánchez, Deputy Director of Treatment at CP Madrid VI – Aranjuez; and for the collaboration of Jesús Figueroa, the center's social worker.

Art for reintegration

The mural project belongs to the Service Learning Project from the URJC (a signed collaboration with CP Madrid VI - Aranjuez) entitled "Art for Reintegration. Mural Painting between Young University Students and Young People in Prison," coordinated by Elena Villamarín with the participation of professor Antonio Vigo. This initiative seeks to strengthen the university's commitment to serving the social community, focusing in this case on young people in prison (the project coordinator's field of research). This is a social reintegration activity through art, taught in the Design and Projective Workshop course (Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Arts and Humanities), where the project and event coordinator teaches.

The murals were painted by the students on large poster boards attached to the walls of the Old Pavía Barracks Building (Aranjuez Campus), using spray-on stencil techniques, typical of urban art. Initially, the young people in prison were invited to reflect on the social values ​​of solidarity, equality, and integration, to pitch their ideas, and the students could express them graphically in the murals. This dynamic proved highly engaging for both parties, and the collaboration was complete.

The purpose of the meeting was to transport the completed murals to the prison so that young people in prison could view them and obtain their appreciation, facilitating a personal exchange of experiences between both parties. “During the meeting, the organizers were able to see, through the ideas and comments expressed about the murals, that young people, both inside and outside of prison, have very similar ideas about the benefits of society, nature, family, security, and peace. The shared language achieved has turned the murals into a metaphor for breaking down prejudices and social inequalities, and art has been seen as a tool to defend our values ​​and rights. The meeting has been very positive on the prison, social, human, and artistic levels,” says Professor Elena Villamarín.

For their part, students participating in the initiative noted that by learning about the ideas of the young prisoners, they felt "that their concerns weren't so far removed from those of any young person who wants a better life. Working with their ideas and trying to build a common language has made the murals a metaphor for breaking down prejudices, fears, and social inequalities. We've been able to see art as a tool to express and defend our values ​​and rights. It's very gratifying to feel that we've collaborated on a mural with such a powerful message."

The experience gained from this project and this meeting will then be furthered by a phase of knowledge transmission and transfer through workshops, conferences, publications, and new projects in the prison sector.

Another example of how the URJC, through its APS projects, seeks to improve the lives of those in its immediate surroundings.