In October 2019, French artist JR created a unique work of art inside a level 4 maximum-security prison, the California Correctional Institution at Tehachapi.

JR and his team collected testimonies, stories, and portraits of formerly and currently incarcerated individuals, focusing on their journeys of rehabilitation, as well as accounts from correctional staff. With the help of the incarcerated citizens themselves, these portraits were pasted onto the prison’s recreational yard.

The collage—comprising 338 strips of paper—was completed in just a few hours thanks to the active participation of everyone involved in the project, and especially due to the collaboration between the incarcerated individuals, prison staff, and JR’s team. A drone captured the final aerial view of the installation.