Inmates showcase their artwork to help the Mural Arts Program

email hidden; JavaScript is requiredArtwork created by inmates at Graterford Prison is on display and for sale in Philadelphia, and all the proceeds will go to the Mural Arts Program. Opening night was Thursday. From WHYY's Arts and Culture desk, Alex Schmidt reports.

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Philadelphia's Mural Arts Program has been working in city prisons for a decade. This year, their programming is in peril due to cuts in city funding. So inmates have agreed to donate all proceeds from a show of their paintings and sculptures to Mural Arts. Opening night brought in over $1000. Robyn Buseman is a director at Mural Arts.

Buseman: "The inmates' ability to give back to a program I think is just very powerful in and of itself because they don't really have that opportunity in the prison. They know they've done horrible things, made mistakes. This is a way for them to say, okay I made mistakes but this is a way for me to do something positive."

Buseman says the money will go towards buying supplies, including high quality paint brushes. The Graterford Prison art show will be up for a month longer at Mural Arts Headquarters in Philadelphia.