The art teacher is telling his students to scribble. He doesn鈥檛 want to see any straight lines.
鈥淚 knew I had to counter my incarceration with something positive. Education would be the ticket to get my life back on track.鈥�
鈥� Jason Fronczek 鈥�16
鈥淎 straight line isn鈥檛 true to life,鈥� says Jason Fronczek 鈥�16. 鈥淢ake scribbles. Give them time. They鈥檒l eventually look beautiful and real.鈥�
Fronczek鈥檚 students have names. But if you saw their clothes and where class is being held, you wouldn鈥檛 ask for their names. You鈥檇 just call them prisoners. The teacher has a different perspective, though.
鈥淚鈥檝e been in your shoes,鈥� he tells the students incarcerated at the Central Florida Reception Center in Orlando run by the Florida Department of Corrections.
He has their attention.
鈥淎nd I鈥檓 about to finish my master鈥檚 degree at 麻豆原创.鈥�
And with that, their eyes are open wide 鈥� just as eyes should be.
Fronczek is still trying to process this himself. He was released from prison 10 years ago but is still releasing himself from the trap of his own story. Photography has freed him to see the world in a whole different way. And teaching art through the Florida Prison Education Project (FPEP) is his way of giving others hope while they鈥檙e still incarcerated.
鈥淛ason is an amazing person,鈥� says Keri Watson, associate professor of art history at 麻豆原创 and director of FPEP. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 see him as a 鈥榝ormer felon.鈥� He鈥檚 a father, a student, an artist. To see what he鈥檚 gone through 鈥� he鈥檚 an illustration of success.鈥�
Fronczek tells his students to keep those eyes open wide. Because if he can see himself in their shoes, maybe they can also see themselves in his.
Finding a Positive Perspective
Fronczek doesn鈥檛 avoid the uncomfortable truth. 鈥淚 was convicted, imprisoned.鈥� Just get it out of the way so the talk can go from small to very large. 鈥淚 want people to realize that my mistakes are not my identity. I鈥檝e moved forward. We should all move forward.鈥�
鈥淎 straight line isn鈥檛 true to life. Make scribbles. Give them time. They鈥檒l eventually look beautiful and real.鈥�
To do that, he鈥檒l first give the details you鈥檙e wondering about. He went to jail in August 2006 for burglarizing a neighbor鈥檚 home. Sentenced to five years, he ended up serving four years and three months.
Fronczek could easily have chosen to become bitter or jaded. He chose instead to read 鈥� one or two books every day. The longer books, like etymological dictionaries, took three days. By the time he got out in 2010, he鈥檇 consumed about 2,000 books.
鈥淚 knew I had to counter my incarceration with something positive,鈥� says Fronczek. 鈥淓ducation would be the ticket to get my life back on track.鈥�
The Bible made such an impact that he first thought about going to seminary school. But shortly after his release, the mother of a friend gave Fronczek a used camera. It brought back memories 鈥� good memories. He wanted to learn more.
So less than a year after leaving prison, Fronczek enrolled at Valencia College and through the earned bachelor鈥檚 degrees in visual arts and emerging media management and studio art. The two majors piqued his interest in the power of art, so in 2016 he applied to the emerging media MFA program. A year later he reapplied and was accepted.
Fronczek absorbed concepts and applied them to his own photography. He took a few of Watson鈥檚 courses because something at the core of her teaching connected with him, he says. She also told him the hard truth about his thesis.
鈥淚t was too general, too focused on research,鈥� she says. 鈥淔or art to be universally understood, you need to start with your own story.鈥�
Although Fronczek is willing to share his story in casual conversation, he also knows how hard it is to understand. It takes perspective.
And that鈥檚 just it. Art is perspective, right?
鈥淏ringing personal experiences into my thesis makes all the difference,鈥� he says, 鈥渂ecause I want a way to influence attitudes and behaviors.鈥�
Personal perspective is especially true with his photography, which can be traced back to the point-and-shoot camera he bought for $10 as a kid, the Nikon he got from his brother in a sweet trade, and the gift from his friend鈥檚 mother after his incarceration. Perspective allows him to marvel through his lenses at things the rest of us might ignore. Chaos in leaves. Empty bicycle racks at Walmart. The construction on I-4, of all places.
鈥淚 look at the juxtaposition of the pylons and the angles of unfinished bridges,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t all has something interesting to offer.鈥�
Sharing His Story
Even with his bachelor鈥檚 degrees and a master鈥檚 nearly in hand, Fronczek finds it challenging to find a place to rent or to score job interviews. It鈥檚 the box he has to check on the applications. Ever been convicted of a felony?
鈥淎rt has a way of showing the potential you never realized you had. Look at me.鈥�
But even the box has opened up a something marvelous. There were things Watson and Fronczek didn鈥檛 know about each other through their first few semesters together at 麻豆原创. He didn鈥檛 know she鈥檇 taught art to prisoners in Alabama and in 2018 launched the FPEP. She didn鈥檛 know where he鈥檇 been, either.
鈥淚 could sense there was something special Jason had to offer,鈥� she says, 鈥渂ut I didn鈥檛 know he鈥檇 been incarcerated until I saw the box he had to check when applying for our master鈥檚 program. That鈥檚 when I asked him to teach in the FPEP program.鈥�
Fronczek is more likely to say he spends three hours a day 鈥渆ncouraging鈥� incarcerated students rather than teaching.
鈥淎rt has a way of showing the potential you never realized you had,鈥� he says. 鈥淟ook at me.鈥�
He says he still hasn鈥檛 grasped the gravity of this: Jason Fronczek, MFA. But that isn鈥檛 his identity, either. His life is a bunch of scribbles, like the world around us. That鈥檚 the message of his story: When he started to find beauty in a world of scribbles, it found beauty in him, too.
