CHICAGO— Artist Jesse Graves is partnering with the Tamms Year Ten coalition to publicize state-sanctioned torture at the Tamms supermax prison in southern Illinois.

The prison watchdog group and local artists will engage in a unique project this weekend called “mud stenciling.” Mud stencils are a non-toxic ecologically-safe non-destructive public messaging technique developed by Graves, a student at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, who is gaining international recognition for his work.

Mud stencils wash off in the rain, yet while they are up on sidewalks or walls, they dry to a dark brown color and have a unique three-dimensional texture.

Tamms Year Ten, a coalition of over 70 groups throughout Illinois, initiated the campaign to end torture at the supermax last year and pushed Illinois lawmakers to introduce HB2633 which would establish accountability at the prison and prohibit mentally ill people from being held there.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have called on the Illinois Department of Corrections and Governor Quinn to alleviate conditions at the prison immediately. Quinn recently appointed a new IDOC director with the top priority of reviewing conditions at Tamms supermax.



WHEN/WHAT: Saturday, June 6, 2009, 11:00AM: public demonstration of mud stenciling

VISUAL: Jesse Graves demonstrates mud stenciling (design is the outline of the state of Illinois with the slogan “End Torture In Illinois.”) Afterwards, press is invited to come out with crews and stencil in a variety of locations.



WHERE: Orientation Center

2129 N. Rockwell, Chicago IL, 60647

(Just north of the intersection of Rockwell and Milwaukee Ave. Adjacent to the Congress Theater.)



WHO: Jesse Graves, Milwaukee-based mud stencil artist

Nicolas Lampert, Chicago-based artist, Justseeds Artist Cooperative (www.justseeds.org)

Laurie Jo Reynolds, organizer, and other members of the Tamms Year Ten Campaign



WHY: Illinois is facing national and international scrutiny for human rights abuses at Tamms including the lack of due process, and mental and physiological problems that result from prolonged isolation. Prisoners at the supermax are held in permanent solitary confinement, and never leave their cell except to shower or exercise alone in a concrete pen. They have no communal activity, no contact visits, no phone calls, and no educational or rehabilitative programming. Suicide attempts, self-mutilation, and mental illness are an expected consequence of long-term isolation, and are common at Tamms. The prison was designed to be a short-term shock-treatment, but one-third of prisoners have been held there for over a decade.