Sacred Places
Maryland Correctional Institution-Jessup
A concrete passageway turned into a multi-level green oasis, designed by the men inside.
WHERE
Jessup, MD
SETTING
Prison
PARTNER INSTITUTION
the Annapolis Maritime Museum
Visit
Where it is
7804 House of Correction Road, Jessup, MD 20794
What happens here
Inmates tend the mini-arboretum of saplings and grow the plantings. Several prison vocational groups work together to enrich and document the garden: men pursuing Master Gardener certification grow and tend, men in the Art Program made the artwork and poetry, and men in a pilot video production program built technical skills documenting the project. The space provides a much-needed calming effect in what is often an incredibly tense environment.
HOW IT CAME TO BE
The saplings leave before the men do.
01
The Need
The site was a nondescript concrete passageway inside the prison, in an environment that is often incredibly tense.
02
The Vision
The Garden of Reflection was envisioned and created by the inmates themselves, reflecting and embodying their own hopes and needs. Collaboration among a diverse group of inmates and volunteer professionals added deeper meaning to both the creative process and the outcome. The mini-arboretum bordering the garden carries the metaphor the whole rests on: the saplings will be transplanted into communities outside the prison, much as one day the men will leave to take the next step in their own ongoing process of reinvention and growth.
03
The Transformation
Landscape architects and inmates together turned the concrete passageway into an art-filled, waterfall-enhanced, multi-level green oasis, with a trellis, a bench, and plenty of plants and flowers. Poignant and compelling public artwork and poetry made by men in the prison's Art Program frame the space. The garden was dedicated in 2011.
WHO TENDS IT
