Skip to main content

A Place of Peace

I was born in 1974, in Los Angeles. I wasย  raised by my single mom, Wanda Holloway. I spent most of his life incarcerated as a juvenile. I took all my anger and frustration out on drawing and painting when I was young. I had an unstable childhood built on violence, abuse, PTSD and lack of education. It led me to a recurring situation of being damned by incarceration since I was 12.

I havenโ€™t spent a year out in society. Iย  started educating myself and took off. I joined Arts in Correction and started painting small murals on a prison wall in Lancaster State Prison. Struggling with the fact of having to serve 36 yrs to life, I found myself getting my GED. I continued to strive for a better future.

๐Ÿ“ฌ

These stories arrive by mail.

Every month, a physical envelope arrives at your door, postmarked from San Quentin Village, California. Inside, you will find original artwork, writing, and recipes from real contributors, along with a personal letter from me, Diane Kahn, founder of Humans of San Quentin, about the people who made them. You read it. You keep it.

Every piece comes from someone serving a sentence. Every piece reminds you they are so much more than that.

๐Ÿ“ฌ Join the Mail Club

One Comment

  • /Mark A Holt/ says:

    dear shelly I do admire the work you profile and would like to discuss hiring you to do some custom work for an art book im putting together write or email with your caontact info and address and inm. no thanks Mark

Receive more inspiring stories and news from incarcerated people around the world.