Doing Time

He ran out and caught me. He recognized me and knew where I lived, so I agreed to come back the next day with a pane of glass if he wouldn't phone the cops.

I bought the glass and carried it to his place. We were going to replace it together. The glass slipped as he was pushing it in and badly cut his arm. He had to go to the hospital.

I never broke another window after that. Direct, reasonable deterrent, and rehabilitation. It was very clear to me that my actions had hurt someone, both physically and in terms of time and aggravation. Jail never had anything to do with action and consequences. If I had to clean and replace every window I'd ever broken, it would have made sense. I would've been held responsible for my own actions. Jail just furthered my isolation and anger -- it became a vicious cycle.

MYTH: WOMEN IN JAIL ARE CALLOUS, VIOLENT, RACIST

Michelle: This is the stupidest myth I have ever heard. I have never seen so much compassion in my life as in jail. On my first bit, I was scared and crying. A repeater who was with me in the sheriff's van comforted me and let me know she was supporting me and would help in any way she could. And she did.

Women in prisons are not generally violent. If you step out of line, someone will tell you that you did. There's violence sometimes just like sometimes there's violence on the streets or in the home. But it's not the vicious place it's made out to be.

MYTH: WOMEN IN PRISON ARE NOT REAL PEOPLE

Persimmon: Lyn was the first person I was ever close to who had been in jail. Jail is frightening. "Don't think about it. Those people are frightening, keep away from them." They are kept away from us.

A friend of mine (a smart woman, a woman like you and me) told me that seeing pieces from Doing Time made her realize how she had unconsciously thought of women in prison as "other", "different", not women she could know or be friends with. But reading their words broke through to her. She couldn't distance and de-humanize them any more. She's a good woman, very honest.

This series is education, my education passed on. I asked Michelle to imagine this stuff in a fancy gallery, because that's where it's going to be. I said, "What do you want those people to know?" Michelle answered, "That we are human beings ." I wonder if people will really understand what that means.

Michelle: I want to tell you as women that I am a woman too, who wants to be accepted for me, not judged for what I have done or may do.

Persimmon Blackbridge is a graduate of the Vancouver School of Art. Michelle Christianson is a graduate of Lakeside Women's Correctional Centre. Lyn Macdonald is a graduate of Madame Vanier Women's Correctional Centre.