Inside Out Reentry Community

Five drawings by Shawn Lurkens are displayed as part of the “Art from the Inside Out” art show in Iowa City, but — like Lurkens’ dealings with the criminal justice system — none of them are finished.

All of the artists whose art is displayed in the show — which runs through Feb. 16 at Public Space One in Iowa City — are people who have been or are still incarcerated in jails or prisons in Iowa. Lurkens spent about six months in jail in Linn County and is now living in a residential correctional facility.

Lurkens started drawing as a way to pass the time while he was in jail. He said it served as a form of meditation for him.

“It was the only way I could really relax while I was in jail,” Lurkens said. “I could get lost in it for hours.”

His pieces that are displayed in the free art show use symmetry and nature to explore abstract concepts like “Eternal Love” and “Spiritual Wisdom.” The pieces were originally drawn in black and white while he was in jail. He started to add color after he was released to the halfway house. There still is color missing, because Lurkens plans to finish his artwork after he finishes his stay at the residential facility.

Read more at The Gazette. Written by Emily Andersen.

Inside Out, a Johnson County nonprofit organization that supports people returning to society after being incarcerated, will be opening a reentry house in Iowa City for low-income, formerly incarcerated men.

The house, at 719 Page St., was recently purchased and will be home to up to six men at a time. Residents will be able to stay in the house for up to two years, and Inside Out staff will be available to help them find jobs, community resources and new housing when the time comes. The rent will be $500 a month, and will include all utilities.

“There are a lot of folks that are trying to get out of prison, but they don’t have a place to go,” Michelle Heinz, executive director of Inside Out, said. “We’ve seen it over and over again, folks getting out and just not being able to find a place to live. And if you can’t find a roof over your head, then everything else just kind of tumbles around you.”

Read more at The Gazette. Written by Emily Andersen.

Inside Out Reentry Community is hoping this is just the first of several housing options they will be able to offer in the future.

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Affordable, furnished housing is now available to six formerly incarcerated Iowa City individuals thanks to Inside Out Reentry Community’s new purchase.

The nonprofit based in Iowa City dedicated to helping formerly incarcerated persons re-enter society has purchased its first “re-entry house” in Johnson County. This home is expected to be one of several established by the Inside Out Reentry Community, according to a press release.

The residence is located at 719 Page St. in Iowa City, a 3,561 square-foot dwelling with four bedrooms and four bathrooms according to real estate company Zillow. However, it is being renovated to be a six-bedroom home, Michelle Heinz, executive director, told the Press-Citizen.

Read more at the Iowa City Press-Citizen. Written by Paris Barraza.