FROM WITHIN

An Art Show and Fundraiser Featuring Work by Six Incarcerated Artists

What happens when a white guy from Maine who went to Bowdoin College and a Black man from Brooklyn who went to prison decide to create something together?

It starts with this art show. And hopefully grows into new friendships. Transformational healing. And a world where more of us see each other for the beauty of our imperfections and humanity.

The Story

Last September, Jeremy Litchfield bought a painting at a silent auction. It was called "Mother Earth," and something about it pulled him in. Layers of meaning kept revealing themselves the longer he looked.

He reached out to the artist through a prison messaging app. He just wanted to thank him. To let him know someone on the outside saw his work and was moved by it.

He wrote back. His name is Tremayne Seymour. That first exchange grew into a friendship that is getting deeper every day.

Tremayne is incarcerated at Lawrenceville Correctional Center in Virginia. He has struggled with crippling anxiety his entire life. The kind that used to make him pass out. He taught himself to paint as a way through it. Then he turned around and built something to help others do the same.

He created a 12-week program inside Lawrenceville called Colorful Transformations. It teaches men how to use art to manage anxiety, stress, and depression.

This show started with a painting and a thank you note. It grew into a friendship between two men from completely different worlds. Now it's becoming something neither of them expected.

How It Works

Photographs taken in the outside world are sent to six men inside Lawrenceville Correctional Center in Virginia.

The artists choose photos that speak to them and paint their interpretations. Every artist brings their own eye, their own story, their own experience to the image. What comes back is something none of us could have made alone.

While it starts on the outside, it comes FROM WITHIN.

These men are creating beauty from inside a system that was designed for disconnection. Their art is a refusal to be reduced to a number or a sentence. Every painting in this show is proof that transformation is possible, even in the hardest places.

Meet the Creators

Tremayne Seymour

Joseph Bell

Justin Robertson

J Gardner

Brian M. Self

Sylvester Horne

Jeremy Litchfield

Tremayne Seymour

I grew up in Brooklyn, New York and have been incarcerated for over 30 years. I taught myself to paint to manage crippling anxiety that has followed me my entire life. That personal healing led me to create Colorful Transformations, a 12-week program inside Lawrenceville Correctional Center that teaches men how to use art to manage anxiety, stress, and depression. I have led multiple sessions of the program and plan to work with young people through art when I come home.

Joseph Bell

I believe in selfless service, and that our greatest resource is in the company we keep. No matter the situation in which we may find ourselves, there is always an opportunity to help others and be of service. Incarceration did not alter my belief; it merely showed me a new way to help! I have had the pleasure of serving as a pod representative: consolidating the voices of the men I lived with and sharing the concerns with prison administration. In 2025, I served as the chairman of the Veterans Group's Philanthropy committee, here at Lawrenceville Correctional Center. As people, we must take care of each other. No matter where we are, we all have something to contribute to others. And, if we truly think about it, the greatest of gifts always come from within.

Justin Robertson

I've been in art, mainly drawing all my life. About two years ago I decided to try my hand at painting and found that I liked it. Seeing a picture come alive brings satisfaction in doing a craft. It's a way of expressing one's feelings and desires. I decided to do art to help others because it's my way of giving back what I financially couldn't do before. Helping others I feel is what we are led to do.

J Gardner

I am a U.S. Army veteran that found the joy of art during my 16 years of being in prison. It has helped me through years of dealing with PTSD and survivor's guilt. Through my art I have been able to find beauty even in the darkest of places. I have been able to escape the thoughts of failure and depression that I battle with every day. I feel that if my art can do that for myself then I can only hope that it can help others. It is the reason I helped form "From Within" to hopefully show others that even in the darkest of places there is always light. As a veteran it is important to me to give back to communities. It is the reason I joined the U.S. Army.

Brian M. Self

I'm a 55-year-old honorably discharged U.S. Marine. I grew up in Florida and joined the Marine Corps and that's what led me to VA. I have 2 wonderful children, and we stay in touch regularly. They are the greatest joy in my life. I suffer from P.T.S.D. from childhood abuse and my time in the Marine Corps. Between working out and art, it helps to keep me from spinning out. As you can imagine, being in here can be quite challenging to stay positive. My desire to be involved in this endeavor is because I love helping people. Ever since I became a Christian, I've had a desire to help people. So, if my artwork can help others, I'm all for it. I spent my life trying to do right and I made this one bad choice, and it has haunted me for the 14 years I've been incarcerated. I would like to show that there's plenty of use for my life. So, I choose to help others. Thank you for this chance to rewrite my narrative.

Sylvester Horne

I started painting when I had gotten sick. I couldn't move around or work. I was sitting around looking at the trees and hills. I remember watching a Bob Ross show on painting. He said just try it, so I did and I've been doing it for two years now. It makes me feel relaxed and I can be there with my paintings.

Jeremy Litchfield

I am a writer, social entrepreneur, and Bowdoin College graduate. I was born in Brunswick, went to high school there, and returned to Brunswick in 2009. I am currently on a year-long exploration called the Heart-Strong Adventure, examining where love and fear show up in the world, especially in the lives of men. I bought Tremayne's painting "Mother Earth" at a silent auction in September 2025, reached out to thank him, and a friendship grew from there.

Every Painting is $131.30

Why $131.30? That number is intentional.

The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States, with one exception. "As a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted."

That loophole allows incarcerated people to work for pennies an hour while corporations profit from their labor. In most state prisons, wages range from $0.14 to $0.63 per hour. In six states, incarcerated workers earn nothing at all.

The price of every painting is a reminder that the story of the 13th Amendment isn't finished. We still have a lot of work to do to ensure everyone is free.

Postcard collections and calendars featuring the artists' work are also available. Five postcards or a calendar for $13. A way to take the art home and carry the story forward.

Where the Money Goes

FROM WITHIN is a fundraiser supporting ArtVan, a Maine-based nonprofit that delivers mobile art therapy to underserved communities. ArtVan brings therapeutic arts directly to the people and places that need it most, at no cost. Their mission of transformational healing through art mirrors what these men and many others have experienced. Art heals and transforms in colorful ways.

A portion of proceeds will also go back to the artists to help them stay connected to another source of healing, their loved ones on the outside.

See the Show or Buy the Art

FROM WITHIN is a moving art show, popping up at community spaces around Southern and Midcoast Maine.

See our schedule of events below.

Original paintings, prints, postcard collections, and calendars are available for purchase at our shows or in our online store.

Online Store is Coming Soon.

Pop-Up Shows

Host a Pop-up at Your Location

Interested in bringing FROM WITHIN to your location? Please reach out at the form below. We are always looking for values aligned partner hosts!

Download PDF

The Bigger Vision

FROM WITH is a pilot. If it works here, it can work in other states, other facilities, other communities. Art has a way of crossing walls that were built to keep people apart. This is just the beginning.

Say Hello

Got a question? Want to get involved? Just want to say this resonated? We'd love to hear from you.