SFMOMA's latest exhibition "O Smith: Artivist" features the work of San Quentin inmate Orlando Smith, making him the first actively incarcerated artist to get a solo show at the storied institution. Smith's work uses the form of comic book story panels to offer urgent reflections on politics and prison life.
His drawings now fill three rooms at SFMOMA, where Smith's talent for detail and desire to advocate for improved conditions for himself and his fellow inmates can be found in every piece. Currently 30 years into serving eight consecutive life sentences for drug and burglary charges under California's Three Strikes Law, Smith managed to attended his show's debut on Saturday, July 25, remotely via FaceTime.
Addressing the crowd gathered at SFMOMA's Koret Education Center, state senator Scott Wiener emphasized the simple reality that inmates are people too.
"Prisons are full of human beings who have lives, families, loved ones, and talents," Wiener said. "We, as a society, have moved way too far in the direction of incarceration and we have not done enough to ensure that when someone leaves prison, they come out better than when they came in, with access to education, to arts, and to training to learn the skills they'll need to thrive."
Later, Christine Lashaw of Empowerment Avenue used her remarks to clarify that Smith receiving a show at SFMOMA was an honor earned, not given.
"I want to acknowledge this moment," Lashaw began. "We have a man who created art from prison who now has his own exhibition at one of the country’s leading museums. And that’s not because someone made an exception for him — it’s because his work belongs here. Orlando deserves this opportunity."
Indeed, Smith's career as an artist stretches back to childhood, where he developed a passion for redrawing superheroes from Marvel comics as a middle-schooler. Since his incarceration, Smith has created, by his own estimation, 50 graphic novels in addition to the drawings and posters now featured at SFMOMA.
The exhibition is the result of a collective effort between Empowerment Avenue — a non-profit focused on normalizing the inclusion of incarcerated artists, writers, and filmmakers in public arts spaces — and Nancy Lim, SFMOMA's Associate Curator of Painting and Sculpture. But the true star is Smith's immense talent and indefatigable passion to see elderly inmates treated better.
In pre-recorded remarks played for those in attendance, Smith elucidated on why this subject looms so large in his work.
"During Covid 19, everyone suffered," Smith observed, "but more so incarcerated elders, who were dying at a higher rate. Even afterwards, I observed fully how much they struggled with everything. Prison wasn’t designed to house old folks and it’s also super expensive to house the elderly. The budgets to operate California prisons keep rising. So why are they still here? These are the questions to ask yourself."
"O Smith: Artivist" is currently scheduled to run through June 27, 2027.
Image: Orlando Smith, Aging Is A Fact!, 2025; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Ruth Nash Fund purchase; © Orlando Smith; photo: Tenari Tuātagaloa
