Arapahoe Libraries proudly hosts rotating art exhibits each month at Eloise May, Koelbel, and Smoky Hill libraries, with quarterly exhibits at The Space. Our galleries offer the community a place to view a variety of art at no cost while also providing visibility to local artists. A volunteer art selection committee selects exhibits based on artistic quality, variety of exhibits, and the suitability of format for each exhibit space.
Have a question about the galleries or interested in showcasing your art? Visit the Art Galleries page for more information.
What do you hope visitors take away from seeing the Unchained Voices exhibition at Arapahoe Libraries?
I hope people stop and spend a little time with the work. It is easy for incarceration to reduce people to a label, a number, or the worst thing they have ever done. Art pushes against that. It gives us a chance to encounter someone’s humor, grief, imagination, talent, curiosity, and way of seeing the world.
I hope visitors leave having seen artists first. And maybe they carry a little more curiosity with them about the people who are still living behind prison walls and what they have to contribute to our communities.
What do you wish more people understood about incarcerated artists and their creative work?
I wish more people understood just how much creativity exists inside prisons, and how difficult it can be to create there. Artists often work with limited materials, limited space, restrictions on what they can access, and very few opportunities for their work to reach an audience.And yet they create extraordinary work.
It is also important to understand that this art does not have to be about incarceration. People inside make art about family, nature, identity, fantasy, humor, memory, beauty, loss, and everything else human beings make art about. They are artists who happen to be incarcerated, not people whose entire creative identity begins and ends with prison.
What does having artwork exhibited publicly mean to the participating artists?
For many artists, having their work exhibited publicly means being part of the world beyond the walls. When you are incarcerated, there are very few opportunities to share something you created with people you may never meet. A public exhibition says: your work is worth seeing. Your ideas can travel somewhere you cannot. Someone stopped in front of something you made and spent time with it.
We hear again and again how meaningful that recognition can be. It is not simply having a piece hanging on a wall. It is having an audience, being taken seriously as an artist, and participating in a larger creative community.
For those who are inspired by the exhibition, what are some ways they can support Unchained Voices and its artists moving forward?
First, keep looking at and sharing the work. Talk about the artists. Invite other people to see the exhibition. One of the most powerful things an audience can give an artist is genuine attention.
People can also follow and support Unchained Voices, attend future exhibitions and events, purchase artists’ work when opportunities are available, and support programs that create meaningful pathways for incarcerated writers and artists to develop and share their work.
And perhaps most importantly, carry the experience beyond the exhibition. When conversations about incarceration happen in your community, remember the people whose work you encountered here. They are more than their sentences. They are artists, writers, neighbors, parents, friends, and people with something to say.
Jeremy Martinez
Website: martinezje.com, opens a new window
Jeremy Martinez is a picture book author + illustrator. He creates whimsical and colorful characters and stories combining handmade papers and digital tools.
Pushpa Sunder Mehta, M.D.
My art is an expression of my heart and soul; a search for “Truth” and an admiration for nature and life. I want my art to be purposeful, free and inspiring.
The will to continue with my art comes from the Loving Heavenly Voice that tells me “keep up with your art”. The driving force in my fingers to hold the brush and create original art is a gift of “True Love” from my family.
As I progress on the path of an artistic pilgrim, I seek to engage viewers into an artistic consciousness to love and respect Mother Earth.
Stephanie Castro
This series separates the shape, size, and texture of the flowers from its vivid tones. Flowers stripped from color are a resemblant of funerals and may symbolize farewells. The colors are "memory swatches" of my most beloved memories, places, and foods. Through experimenting with patterns and movement, I hope to demonstrate the peacefulness of childhood and the solitude in homesickness. I dedicate this series to my grandma and mom, who are the most influential people in my life.
What is your favorite piece in the show, and why?
My favorite piece is “Forrado de Palmas”. This was the first piece I made for the series,
and it was the headrest to complete. It encapsulates the association I have between my
homeland, plants, and memory.
What motivates you to create?
My personal experience after moving countries is my main motivation to create. Nature
and personal relationships heavily influence my work.
Featured Artist 2026: Unchained Voices
Instagram: @unchainedvoicesartshow, opens a new window
Website: unchainedvoices.org, opens a new window
Each year, Arapahoe Libraries’ Featured Artist Program highlights an artist or group whose work explores diverse communities, history and social justice, using art as a starting point for community conversation. For 2026, Arapahoe Libraries is proud to feature Unchained Voices, a Colorado nonprofit amplifying the artwork and stories of people who are incarcerated.
Founded in 2015, Unchained Voices has grown to include artists from correctional facilities across Colorado. Through exhibitions and the sale of original artwork, the organization creates opportunities for incarcerated artists to share their creativity, experiences and perspectives with the broader community. Its mission is to educate, empower, advocate and connect through shared humanity and the powerful voice of art.
The theme for this year’s art show is Windows and Mirrors. This theme takes on special meaning when we consider the two very different spaces connected through this exhibition: public libraries and prisons. Libraries are built around access to information, ideas, stories and one another, while incarceration is defined in many ways by restriction and separation. Art, however, has the ability to move across and beyond those boundaries.
Through this exhibition, artwork created within correctional facilities enters a public library, creating a window into experiences and perspectives that visitors may not otherwise encounter. At the same time, the artwork can serve as a mirror, reflecting emotions, relationships, hopes and questions that are deeply human and familiar.
By bringing these works into a shared community space, Windows and Mirrors invites us not only to look into someone else’s experience, but also to reflect on what we recognize within ourselves.
Artist Reception November 12
Come experience the art, hear directly from the people behind Unchained Voices and join the conversation. Light refreshments will be served.
Doors open: 5:30 pm
Panel discussion: 7-8:30 pm
Shop the Artwork
Visit The Space on December 10 from 3-5pm to view the full art show and shop the artwork.