When you're serving time in prison, you can have a lot of empty time on your hands, and it's hard to stay in touch with your family. That’s what Mark Person was facing as he was serving 15 years in an Idaho prison when he found a way to keep in touch with his daughter; he started crocheting.
He became a master of crochet and of a special Japanese technique for making small stuffed animals. He started teaching other people in prison how to crochet, and they started teaching others, including T.J. Harter, who learned the techniques while in prison.
The Idaho Prison Arts Collective believes that using the arts like this can be beneficial to folks who are serving time. And they’re hosting an event next week where Mark and T.J. will teach anyone who wants to learn while sharing some of their crochet wisdom.
Mark and T.J. and Michael Richardson, the Executive Director of the Idaho Prison Arts Collective, joined Idaho Matters to tell us more.
