After serving 20 years in prison for crime he did not commit, Mr. Wash is using art to help other artists from disenfranchised communities.
Fulton Leroy Washington, who goes by Mr. Wash, knows a thing or two about getting a second chance in life even in the midst of hopelessness and isolation.
Before President Barack Obama commuted his sentence in 2016, Mr. Wash was behind bar for more than two decades. While serving life sentence after being wrongfully convicted of nonviolent drug offenses in the 1970s, he taught himself how to draw and paint.
“I brought eight brushes and a couple of paint tubes and started practicing. And here we are now,” the Compton native recalled.
He said painting soon became a way for him to cope with despair and unknowing of when he would be exonerated. Although many of his paintings were lost, the artist said he painted 50 to 70 artworks every year.
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Among the countless paintings, one piece of art titled “Emancipation Proclamation” finally became the light at the end of the 20-year tunnel for Mr. Wash. The painting, which depicts the artist himself, being surrounded former President Obama and other officials from the administration, prophesied what was to come, according to Mr. Wash.
“I was blessed to see in the vision to paint this picture,” Mr. Wash explained. “Soon after that, the painting made it to the White House in Washington DC. Then I received a call to go home after 20 years in prison, serving double life sentence for the crime I didn’t commit.’’
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After commissioning his artwork, he was able to purchase his studio in Compton. And he’s now raising money to build a community center on the same lot with the goal of giving second chances to the formerly incarcerated and artists of color. The ex-inmate said the Art by Wash Center will also provide free housing of up to 6 months to those newly released from prison.
“This is my new blank canvass,” Mr. Wash described. “It’s going to have spaces for inmates coming home from prison and teaching art as a way of communication to prevent them from going [back] to prison.”
Mr. Wash also planned to host a fundraising exhibition with other artists of color whom he took under his wings.
The exhibition, which is curated by Mr. Wash himself, runs from Feb. 15 through Mar. 26 at HVW8 Gallery at 661 N. Spaulding Ave. in Los Angeles.
