The art teacher is telling his students to scribble. He doesn 麻豆精品 S檛 want to see any straight lines.
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麻豆精品 S� Jason Fronczek 麻豆精品 S�16
麻豆精品 S淎 straight line isn 麻豆精品 S檛 true to life, 麻豆精品 S� says Jason Fronczek 麻豆精品 S�16. 麻豆精品 S淢ake scribbles. Give them time. They 麻豆精品 S檒l eventually look beautiful and real. 麻豆精品 S�
Fronczek 麻豆精品 S檚 students have names. But if you saw their clothes and where class is being held, you wouldn 麻豆精品 S檛 ask for their names. You 麻豆精品 S檇 just call them prisoners. The teacher has a different perspective, though.
麻豆精品 S淚 麻豆精品 S檝e been in your shoes, 麻豆精品 S� he tells the students incarcerated at the Central Florida Reception Center in Orlando run by the Florida Department of Corrections.
He has their attention.
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And with that, their eyes are open wide 麻豆精品 S� just as eyes should be.
Fronczek is still trying to process this himself. He was released from prison 10 years ago but is still releasing himself from the trap of his own story. Photography has freed him to see the world in a whole different way. And teaching art through the Florida Prison Education Project (FPEP) is his way of giving others hope while they 麻豆精品 S檙e still incarcerated.
麻豆精品 S淛ason is an amazing person, 麻豆精品 S� says Keri Watson, associate professor of art history at UCF and director of FPEP. 麻豆精品 S淚 don 麻豆精品 S檛 see him as a 麻豆精品 S榝ormer felon. 麻豆精品 S� He 麻豆精品 S檚 a father, a student, an artist. To see what he 麻豆精品 S檚 gone through 麻豆精品 S� he 麻豆精品 S檚 an illustration of success. 麻豆精品 S�
Fronczek tells his students to keep those eyes open wide. Because if he can see himself in their shoes, maybe they can also see themselves in his.
Finding a Positive Perspective
Fronczek doesn 麻豆精品 S檛 avoid the uncomfortable truth. 麻豆精品 S淚 was convicted, imprisoned. 麻豆精品 S� Just get it out of the way so the talk can go from small to very large. 麻豆精品 S淚 want people to realize that my mistakes are not my identity. I 麻豆精品 S檝e moved forward. We should all move forward. 麻豆精品 S�
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To do that, he 麻豆精品 S檒l first give the details you 麻豆精品 S檙e wondering about. He went to jail in August 2006 for burglarizing a neighbor 麻豆精品 S檚 home. Sentenced to five years, he ended up serving four years and three months.
Fronczek could easily have chosen to become bitter or jaded. He chose instead to read 麻豆精品 S� one or two books every day. The longer books, like etymological dictionaries, took three days. By the time he got out in 2010, he 麻豆精品 S檇 consumed about 2,000 books.
麻豆精品 S淚 knew I had to counter my incarceration with something positive, 麻豆精品 S� says Fronczek. 麻豆精品 S淓ducation would be the ticket to get my life back on track. 麻豆精品 S�
The Bible made such an impact that he first thought about going to seminary school. But shortly after his release, the mother of a friend gave Fronczek a used camera. It brought back memories 麻豆精品 S� good memories. He wanted to learn more.
So less than a year after leaving prison, Fronczek enrolled at Valencia College and through the earned bachelor 麻豆精品 S檚 degrees in visual arts and emerging media management and studio art. The two majors piqued his interest in the power of art, so in 2016 he applied to the emerging media MFA program. A year later he reapplied and was accepted.
Fronczek absorbed concepts and applied them to his own photography. He took a few of Watson 麻豆精品 S檚 courses because something at the core of her teaching connected with him, he says. She also told him the hard truth about his thesis.
麻豆精品 S淚t was too general, too focused on research, 麻豆精品 S� she says. 麻豆精品 S淔or art to be universally understood, you need to start with your own story. 麻豆精品 S�
Although Fronczek is willing to share his story in casual conversation, he also knows how hard it is to understand. It takes perspective.
And that 麻豆精品 S檚 just it. Art is perspective, right?
麻豆精品 S淏ringing personal experiences into my thesis makes all the difference, 麻豆精品 S� he says, 麻豆精品 S渂ecause I want a way to influence attitudes and behaviors. 麻豆精品 S�
Personal perspective is especially true with his photography, which can be traced back to the point-and-shoot camera he bought for $10 as a kid, the Nikon he got from his brother in a sweet trade, and the gift from his friend 麻豆精品 S檚 mother after his incarceration. Perspective allows him to marvel through his lenses at things the rest of us might ignore. Chaos in leaves. Empty bicycle racks at Walmart. The construction on I-4, of all places.
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Sharing His Story
Even with his bachelor 麻豆精品 S檚 degrees and a master 麻豆精品 S檚 nearly in hand, Fronczek finds it challenging to find a place to rent or to score job interviews. It 麻豆精品 S檚 the box he has to check on the applications. Ever been convicted of a felony?
麻豆精品 S淎rt has a way of showing the potential you never realized you had. Look at me. 麻豆精品 S�
But even the box has opened up a something marvelous. There were things Watson and Fronczek didn 麻豆精品 S檛 know about each other through their first few semesters together at UCF. He didn 麻豆精品 S檛 know she 麻豆精品 S檇 taught art to prisoners in Alabama and in 2018 launched the FPEP. She didn 麻豆精品 S檛 know where he 麻豆精品 S檇 been, either.
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Fronczek is more likely to say he spends three hours a day 麻豆精品 S渆ncouraging 麻豆精品 S� incarcerated students rather than teaching.
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He says he still hasn 麻豆精品 S檛 grasped the gravity of this: Jason Fronczek, MFA. But that isn 麻豆精品 S檛 his identity, either. His life is a bunch of scribbles, like the world around us. That 麻豆精品 S檚 the message of his story: When he started to find beauty in a world of scribbles, it found beauty in him, too.
