Kimberly Brown on Jonathan Humphries’ Windham’s Rembrandt, a memoir of his ex-Marine father’s work as Texas’ first prison art teacher

A noble and peaceful man embarks on an adventure when he decides to take a job in a Texas prison.

James feels privileged to be able to teach art. However, by teaching art in prison, James encounters some of the greatest challenges of his entire life.

James was initially going through problems of his own when he first started working at the prison. But he soon decided that if he was going to provide aid in any way to these prisoners, he had to let go of his own inner demons. He had to deal with everything that caused him to stumble and get into a sober mind to deal with the prisoners regularly.

James, newly divorced and a stone cold alcoholic, put all that behind him, to find God, to serve prisoners, and to find love.
Although reluctant at times about whether or not he would continue to work at the prison, James stuck it out as long as he could. Before he would leave the prison, he would see men so depressed that they would kill themselves. He would be pranked by his art students on many occasions. And he would also stay in touch with a couple of his students from the past. James gave his students, through an art class, an outlet to release and express themselves.

Although what James saw behind those walls at the prison pained him daily, he would return. And he would often be surprised and amazed by his students, some of whom possessed a professional level of talent for drawing and art work. James would grow to love to help his art students in the prison. He even found a tough, threatening inmate student willing to be his own personal ally in times of prison trouble and someone who came to defend him against attacks from other convicts.

James would become more involved and meet more prisoners from different walks of life. Many surprised him because they had what seemed to be normal lives before prison. While others, whom he could hardly bear to see and teach, had committed brutal crimes.

James and his students made history. James was a pioneer in creating that art class in that Texas prison and making it work for he and his students. In life, we all go through our troubles, and James refused to let his personal life get in the way of the compassion that he had for teaching art to his troubled prison students. James carved a path for many of his prisoners, inside and outside of the class. He was a great man who spent over a decade serving them.

Kim Brown lives in East Palo Alto, CA, is a mother and businesswoman who may be reached at kimbrown_kimronice@yahoo.com