At the Sedgwick County Jail, there’s a colorful new addition near the jail’s reentry services.
It’s a large mural with symbols recognizable to Kansans, including the Keeper of the Plains. It also has an underlying message of hope.
“This is a nice beautiful representation of Kansas in general and some iconic themes like wheat in the sunset and rolling hills as we have them,” said Chris Garcia, co-owner of the artist collective Brickmob.
“And then the underlying message of the whole thing is hope. Because there is light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak.”
The mural was designed by a member of the collective, Dale Small.
The colors are a stark contrast to what residents at the facility see every day.
“I know what it's like to be in a place in life when it doesn't feel like there's a lot of options and the power doesn't really feel like it's in your hands,” Small said in a statement. “I know too, that it's not always our choice where we end up.
“If anything, my hope is that seeing something other than blank, never ending walls can provide a different kind of outlook or perspective. One that challenges everyone who walks the halls to have hope for something better for everyone.”
The mural has been a long time coming.
Former County Commissioner Lacey Cruse proposed the idea years ago, especially after the death of 17-year-old Cedric Lofton at the juvenile facility in 2021.
Now that the jail has moved past COVID protocols and severe staffing shortages, Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office Col. Jared Schechter said it was finally able to get done.
“We thought it was a really great way to connect with the community and give inmates something that they wouldn't see otherwise,” he said.
“Kind of remind them of home, remind them of the outside, remind them of maybe some things they should strive for.”
The mural sits across from the jail’s reentry service programs. The area includes a classroom for inmates to get their high school diploma, services to get their state identification cards and a clinic.
“We have a lot of people through either mental illness or substance abuse or other societal issues made mistakes,” Schechter said. “They do want an opportunity to change. So, we're trying to give people those resources and try to inspire them with something like that.”
@brickmobbrickup Dabbing little circles all over to finish up our new mural at the Juvenile Detention Center! #community #stencils #paint #mural #juve #wallart #brickmobbrickup #brickmob ♬ Circles - Soul Coughing
This isn’t the first mural Brickmob has done in a correctional setting. The group also worked on several murals in the county’s juvenile detention facility, including the new “calming room.”
“So, if they're having a bad day, or they're getting a little agitated, or things are going a little awry for them, they can chill out in the space,” Garcia said. “It's enclosed. It's quiet.”
Schechter said painting murals, adding calming rooms and getting inmates connected with outside resources is part of a recent movement within correctional systems. The idea is to focus on helping inmates reenter society in order to reduce repeat offenders.
“We should be trying to set people up for success because 99% of people in this country who go to jail or prison are getting out some day; everybody gets out, nobody goes away …” Schechter said.
“We tried that all through the ’80s … locking people in, throw away the keys, and it didn't work.”
Schechter also said the people in the jail are a reflection of the surrounding community.
“Our neighbors, our family, our friends, those are the people who are in our jails,” he said. “Those are the people coming back out to our communities.”
