Formerly incarcerated LBCC student, Francisco Baldonado has rebuilt his life through art, education, and is now a featured artist in the new exhibit “Hope Restored: Justice Scholars Student Exhibition,” which opened on Feb. 13.
The Justice Scholars program is a system of resources and community for formerly incarcerated students at LBCC pursuing a higher education, which supported Baldonado throughout his journey of self discovery.
Baldonado is now pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Studio Fine Art and a teaching credential at the age of 45, but none of it would have been possible without the help of the Justice Scholars, a program that raises awareness for formerly incarcerated students so that they are capable of getting a further education.
“Because my pieces are more graphic and uncommon images in academia, I want my pieces in the exhibit to have viewers who may have people in their lives, like their mom, dad, brothers, or uncles, or someone who could relate to my old lifestyle, realize that they can change and that the life I had before is way different than what I do now,” Baldonado said.
Baldonado spent the majority of his younger years unsupervised and putting on different masks in different areas of his life.
He alludes to the fact that there was a lot of time growing up where he was left unsupervised, due to his parents always working to support him and his three siblings, leading him to make very poor choices at a young age, which ultimately led to him serving time in prison.
Baldonado dropped out of school around the age of 15, and decided to pursue the workforce instead.
Once he started working and making what he called, “a decent amount of money,” he soon realized that he didn’t have much interest in continuing his education.
From then on, he was introduced to a life of gang culture and he spiraled into making choices that led to him serving time.
With much time to reflect on all his decisions up to that point, he realized that he would have to change his perspective on how he would live his life.
This led Baldonado to commit to sobriety and get more in touch with his inner faith.
He now uses this upbringing and life experience as the backbone of his paintings.
A portrait photograph of Francisco Baldonado, a formerly incarcerated student. Baldonado has artwork on display in the K building gallery room on LAC. (Kay Pham-Nguyen)
Going into prison, he considered himself to be more rebellious, but as Baldonado spent more time there he began to notice things– like how he would smoke and drink as coping mechanisms.
He soon started replacing those habits with reading books on spiritual transformation, redemption, and the Bible.
Baldonado’s time spent in prison was a period of realization and redemption for him.
“My mom would come to visit me and every time she did, she would sing me worship songs and I guess that just started cutting into my soul, so I guess I just came to my senses,” Baldonado said.
In 2022, he began to pursue his education as a part time student as a result of burnout from years of physical fieldwork, carpentry and masonwork.
Out of curiosity, he began speaking to his professors and ended up having many personal connections with them as they constantly encouraged him to continue a higher education.
He had now felt more willing than ever to reach out to the resources he was given, such as the Justice Scholars.
“Francisco came in as a shy and reserved person, not thinking [Justice Scholars] was for him, but as he got more involved he realized that he could do so much more. He has grown into someone who used to feel limited and now is going above and beyond,” Justice Scholars outreach and recruitment specialist, Rosa Martinez said.
These same feelings are also very apparent through many of the people that surround Baldonado.
“When I think about Francisco, right off the bat I think about his skill level and the natural talent he has of creating a realistic visual of what he’s trying to represent. He doesn’t glorify gang life or prison, but he sets it up in a way that represents redemption, sincerity and authentic vision of how he is personally dealing with his life. His redemption is palpable,” said art exhibit curator, Alberto Lule.
Baldonado hopes that he can use his talent and artistry to communicate what he can’t put into words into something people can understand visually.
“I Surrender” 2023, a painting by Francisco Baldonado, presented in the “Hope Restored: Justice Scholars Student Exhibition”. (Kay Pham-Nguyen)
His paintings will be on display in the “Hope Restored: Justice Scholars Student Exhibition,” in the K Building on LAC from Feb. 13 through March 22.