Logistics & Financial FAQ

How do artists access supplies inside prison?

Personal items (commissary) must be ordered through a few approved partner companies of Correctional Industries, the division that handles business and employment for Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC). Selection is limited and permits may be required for some art supplies. There is often a steep price markup. Folks inside can generally only receive one non-food supply box a month. In addition, they cannot earn more than $40 per week nor spend more than approximately $250 per month on commissary creating a choice between food and art supplies.

How do artists send out their art?

Artists pay to send their work to their family or friends on the outside. As with all things DOC does, mail is both very costly and regulated. To send art, artists have to receive the approval of a property officer who may not be available. There are also constant delays in the mailroom.

Where does money from original art and merch sales go?

Because of DOC regulations, the sales from original art and merchandise using an artist’s work often do not go directly to the artist, but may go to the artist’s family or friends. Some artists chose for part of their sales to fund SAC’s printing and display costs.

What are the financial costs of being incarcerated?

Besides the excessive cost of personal items and communication, folks inside often have Legal Financial Obligations (LFOs). This includes:

• fines given as punishment

• fees for court services

• restitution, which is, in name, compensation for people who have been harmed by the incarcerated person's crime.

However, local governments and insurance companies are among the largest recipients of restitution in Washington state. LFOs are fundamentally unjust: 80% of people with LFO debt in Washington are “indigent” and cannot afford to pay. LFOs also disproportionately impact BIPOC. Some SAC artists have LFOs over $50,000. All money in their spendable account is subject to deductions.

What do donations to SAC fund?

• Frames and other display items for the art

• Printing cost of art prints

• Communicating with the artists. Phone calls are ~$0.05 per minute plus fees and e-messages are ~$0.20 each plus fees through Securus, DOC’s telecom partner.

All outside SAC members are volunteers.

More Information and Resources

• OVERCHARGED: Coerced labor, low pay, and high costs in Washington’s prisons by Columbia Legal Service is a comprehensive 62-page report published in 2024.

• Washington State Budget & Policy Center’s Criminal Legal Policy Fines & Fees page has several articles detailing the inequities of LFOs.

• Beyond Prisons podcast an 80-minute episode on Prison Labor.
  

Q&A with SAC Artist and Cofounder
Lawrence “L” Jenkins

What is your job? How much do you make per hour?

L: I have a custodian (janitor) job in my living unit. My job description is to clean the unit day room (tables, phones, kiosks, microwave, rails, floors + extra duties as needed by guards). I make a dollar an hour and bring in $125 a month.

Has your job taught you any skills or provided any training that will translate to work outside prison when you are released?

L: Other than proper sanitation and efficient cleaning practices in densely populated areas. If I were to get out and work in a similar type of setting, these skills would apply. But I plan on farming, teaching and making art for a living when I get out.

How much is deducted from your pay each month?

L: I think they deduct 5% of my monthly income, which comes out to $125.

How much do you spend on commissary, phone calls, and emails (Securus e-messaging) each month?

L: I spend $250 a month on commissary and $200 a month on phone calls and emails. I spend around the same amount on quarterly food and property packages. I also get a lot of art supplies and books sent in, so I’m spending nearly 7x more than what I am bringing in from my janitor job monthly.

What does economic liberation mean to you?

L: Being able to utilize my skills, abilities and gifts - the things I’m most passionate about doing - to (re)generate wealth. And having the freedom to invest into / share this wealth with my family, my community and movements I’m a part of that are centered around autonomy and liberation...

How does selling your artwork improve your quality of life and your ability to support your family and community and prepare for life on the outside?

L: Art in particular allows me to create wealth from a blank canvas. As long as I am able to see and use my hands, I can produce art. If I have access to a printer I can reproduce my own work. And being that I have ownership and property rights over my intellectual property, I can deter-mine for myself how, what, when and where I wish to do business and what to do with the profits - along the line of liberation and advance-ment for my loved ones and community. I’d much rather invest into this future than settle for labor exploitation and unfair wages.