Jewelry, art, furniture and other items created by inmates at Dixon Correctional Institute were on display March 25 during the institute’s Spring Arts and Crafts Festival.
The festival also included food, children’s games and music in Jackson.
The inmates who created the items — about 80 — earned the privilege through good behavior, said Warden E. Dustin Bickham. He explained they have “day jobs” but when a spot becomes open they have the opportunity to earn a place in the hobby shop where they can work, mostly in the evenings.
The prison has some larger tools but for the most part the inmates must buy their own tools from their earnings, as well as other supplies through approved vendors, he said. These activities also serve “as a part of the prison’s reentry programs” for inmates, he said.
A large variety of arts and crafts made by inmates included paintings, different kinds of wood crafts, metal crafts, large and small furniture, jewelry, purses, keychains, belts, candles, decorative signs, games and more.
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