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It took a while, a whole lot longer than it should have. But Tony Papa finally got to see his painting hanging where it belonged. Thirty-five miles and 16 years from the prison cell where he painted it. Displayed in a gallery at the Whitney Museum of American Art. This wasn't the first time that Papa's self-portrait, which he titled "15 to Life," was shown at the Whitney. But the last time Papa wasn't able to make the museum show. He was otherwise detained, serving an absurdly long prison term at the Ossining Correctional Facility on a nonviolent drug conviction under the state's harsh Rockefeller laws. "That portrait changed so much for me," Papa said. "I was sitting in my cell, three years into my sentence. I picked up a mirror. I looked in the mirror. In the mirror I saw an individual who was gonna spend the most productive years of his life in a six-by-nine-foot cage. Then I went to the canvas, and I captured that look." The picture Papa painted was foreboding and dark, acrylic paint on an 18-by-24-inch canvas. He was holding a paintbrush. His fingers were spread. His hands were resting on his head. His right eye was in a shadow. His left eye was wide open, staring ahead. "I created this painting, and seven years later an angelic letter arrived from the Whitney Museum, asking me to put a piece of my work in an upcoming show," he said. "From that point on, I knew that was the key to my freedom. If I could show my work at the Whitney, I could paint myself free." It wasn't quite that easy, of course. People inside and outside the prison admired Papa's talent and recognized the injustice of these counterproductive laws. Various friends interceded on his behalf. And in that roundabout fashion, Papa's confidence in the power of his art was ultimately borne out. The painting was shown, him still at Sing Sing. The story got some media play. That generated a second look at the drug conviction and his long prison term. Finally, in 1997, Gov. George Pataki signed the executive-clemency order that set Papa free. For a single cocaine sale, his first conviction, he'd served 12 years of his 15-to-life. "I really did paint my way out of prison," he said. He never gave up on the broader cause. He has spent the past seven years working to change the law that locked him up. He co-founded a group the New York Mothers of the Disappeared, organizing relatives of Rockefeller-law inmates, trying to push Pataki to expand his one-man clemency into a more sensible drug plan. It's slow going, but the signs of hope are real. Again this year, Papa and his drug-reform allies will take their case to Albany. He's written a book about it, being published next month by Feral House, "15 to Life: How I Painted My Way to Freedom" by Anthony Papa with Jennifer Wynn. There's a Web site, www.15tolife.com, and the story's already been optioned for Hollywood. But Tony Papa had one piece of unfinished business. He had never been able to see his portrait on the museum wall. So the other night, there was a party at the Whitney to celebrate the new book. Hors d'oeuvres were passed. Wine was served. Mario Cuomo turned up. So did most major players in the drug-reform movement. Several of Papa's paintings, including the famous self-portrait, were hanging in a beautifully lit space on the gallery wall. People kept saying what an inspiration Tony Papa is. "Tony is the human face of these inhumane laws," said Andrew Cuomo, the former federal housing secretary who has been championing the drug-reform cause in New York. "Here is what a Rockefeller prisoner looks like. Here is his art. He was locked in a cage for 12 years. Was he really such a threat to us?" Miele Rockefeller, the granddaughter of Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, for whom the laws were named, was there to support Papa. "The Rockefeller laws should be renamed the Pataki laws," she said. "My grandfather would have changed them by now, and George Pataki won't." After the museum show, the group retired to an after-party in the Waldorf Towers apartment of hedge-fund director Lawrence Goldfarb, a Republican. Wealthy Wall Streeters mixed with freshly released ex-prisoners. It was about as far as you could get from Sing Sing. "I'm a Republican businessman," said Goldfarb, whose company is called Baystar Capital. "In dollars and cents and in social devastation, these laws make no sense at all." All evening long, Papa, who is 49 now, looked humbled but also energized. "So many people are reaching out with love," he said. "They're walking up to me, crying, asking, 'What can I do?' " He had an answer for all of them. "Speak to your political leaders. Put pressure on the governor. We have to change these laws for everyone. "One person really can make a difference," he'd say each time. "Believe me. I know." GRAPHIC: Newsday Photos / Viorel Florescu - 1) Tony Papa's "15 to Life" 2) Tony Papa, a free man, stands beneath "15 to Life," which he painted while incarcerated under the Rockefeller drug laws.(A04 C BD) (http://www.nypost.com) nypost.com Drug-laws foe's fete THE Rockefeller Drug Laws will be repealed if Anthony Papa can reach enough people. Papa, who had a radio repair business in The Bronx and a young daughter, did 12 years in Sing Sing after one of his bowling teammates asked him in 1985 if he wanted to make $500 delivering an envelope. It turned out the package was cocaine. Papa wrote "15 to Life: How I Painted My Way to Freedom," about becoming an artist while in prison. He co-founded Mothers of the N.Y. Disappeared in 1998 to bring attention to the unfairness of the 1973 laws which send low-level drug dealers to jail for longer sentences than rapists or murderers. On Monday night, after an opening at the Whitney, Papa was feted at the Waldorf Towers by hedge fund wizard Lawrence Goldfarb and such guests as Andrew Cuomo, art dealer Donald Rosenfeld, Vanity Fair writer Frank DiGiacomo and groom-to-be Al Reynolds, looking relaxed as his Nov. 12 wedding to Star Jones approaches. |
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For the latest drug war news, visit our friends and allies below We are careful not to duplicate the efforts of other organizations, and as a grassroots coalition of prisoners and social reformers, our resources (time and money) are limited. The vast expertise and scope of the various drug reform organizations will enable you to stay informed on the ever-changing, many-faceted aspects of the movement. Our colleagues in reform also give the latest drug war news. Please check their websites often. |
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