NEW YORK CITY.- Coffee grounds, beet juice, soap and M&M’s are just some of the unconventional media used by the artists featured in The Fortune Society’s 7th Annual Prisoner Art Show December 1 – 22, 2006 at The Frieda and Roy Furman Gallery of The Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center (165 West 65th Street).

Inmates from across the country submitted work to the exhibition – 238 pieces in all* – each reflecting the isolation, memory and longing that punctuate prison life. Juried by Brooke Davis Anderson of the American Folk Art Museum and Rebecca Hoffberger of the American Visionary Art Museum , among others, the show features Soul, a mixed-media piece by Donald Johnson, a California inmate whose work was recently profiled in the New York Times.

This three-week-long celebration of creativity in the face of despair also features artist discussions on December 9th and 10th and a benefit auction hosted by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer on December 13th from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. For additional information about The Fortune Society’s 7th Annual Prisoner Art Show call (212) 691-7554 ext. 553 or go online to www.fortunesociety.org.

The Fortune Society is the non-profit leader in prisoner reentry programs, advocacy and self-help services for ex-prisoners and at-risk youths in New York City . In 2007, the organization celebrates 40 years of changing minds and building lives through its standard-setting reentry programs and services.