ORDER A PRINT & SUPPORT JUSTDANE
Fine art giclée prints are available for the artworks listed in the gallery below. Fill out the form below to order the print of your choice and your donation to JustDane will be partially tax deductible. Giclée prints are available in 8” x 10”, 11” x 14” or 16” x 20” formats and will be printed on Somerset Velvet Textured fine art paper by Picture Salon of Madison. Please note, minor cropping or an added border may be needed in order to accommodate the various print sizes.
ABOUT JUSTDANE
Founded in 1971 as Madison-area Urban Ministry (MUM), JustDane is private, 501 (c) 3 non-profit agency that offers an array of direct service programs for individuals and families involved in the criminal justice system. These services include prison reentry programs and services for children who have an incarcerated parent, community events designed to help people understand what it’s like to walk in the shoes of someone newly released from prison, and jail and prison in-reach programs. Part of JustDane’s mission is to serve as an incubator and fiscal agent for innovative ideas and projects, including promoting the work of DarRen Morris.
Artwork Available as Prints
The following paintings are available as prints. Additional Works will be MADE AVAILABLE quarterly.
Summer, 2020
24" x 18"
Acrylic on Canvas Panel
000717
I've never felt like an American, but when I seen this country from coast to coast shake and crumble, under the heavy hands of the oppressed, when I seen the fires. The looting. I smiled. I felt proud to be an American. To be a Black American.
March, 2020
24" x 18"
Acrylic on Canvas Panel
000696
Pillar of Strength started with the sista from the recent Harriet Tubman movie (Cynthia Erivo). I was thinking how these women didn't have weaves or hair that simulates straight hair; they were leading us to a new form of freedom.
October, 2019
18" x 14"
Acrylic on Canvas Panel
000663
Soon to be available, a single fold-away bunk, toilet, wash basin, desk with storage space along with a cabinet and shelf for storage.
This space comes with harsh conditions. It’s loud when you want it quiet. The people around you will gossip about you, shake your hand, eat your last piece of food and won't call for help if either you or your space is attacked.
But you can put down a rug, a yoga mat with a blue towel folded up on the blankets and make your chair a lazy boy. Fold up the bed and the cell turns into my bachelor pad, my chapel, my den of creativity, and my Pee Wee’s playhouse.
But now it is time to let someone else have the space and walk their path and hope it leads to…
September 2, 2018
24” x 18”
Acrylic on Canvas Panel
000
Funny how when things get a little rough we all cry out and seek reassurance.
Made for Payne Theological Seminary, Ohio
August, 2015
18" x 14"
Acrylic on Stretched Canvas
000434
I have an obsession with dark skinned women. In this painting, I love how the bluish tone contrasts against the red in her lips and the yellow towel across her shoulder.
This was a swimsuit model but the part that my eye kept going to was her lips and neck. The result is this sensual painting.
2015
18" x 14"
Acrylic on Stretched Canvas
000429
I was in solitary confinement and as we progress through the levels in the system, we are given more and more property (like radio or TV). I had reached stage 3 and was given my radio.
My radio is a Sangean WR 12, the King Kong of radios (at least of what we are allowed to have). I turned it on and every song was soul shaking sounds. I let my dreads down and pulled out my air guitar. As I rocked and swayed, it dawned on me. What if someone seen me. Given my personality, what would it look like to someone to see me in that cell dancing and singing?
Being in solitary confinement is tough mentally and emotionally. I’d count down the days to get my “stage 3” which meant I'd get my radio. Plug in and turn up. That first day everything sounded great. But I wondered what would me “rocking” out like that look like to you, so since I don't have a picture of you looking, I created it.
September, 2014
18" x 14"
Acrylic on Stretched Canvas
000399
This painting was based on someone I know. She had made equally opposing comments – that she felt lonely for me, yet with me when she thought of me. What the hell does that mean?
So I tried to envision how she might embrace herself to feel with me and also added a bit of nudity to represent the openness. I made the space behind her reflect chaos and light and used the contrast of warm and cool colors to represent the lonely aspect.
Most only pick up on the lonely. One person said it could even be regret. No one thus far has felt warmth of contentment that I imagined was the message that she is with me.
14" x 11"
Acrylic
000159
When I painted this I had the sacred chalice and the imperial fivah ablaze. I could see the music and so I added musical notes and a shapely sistah singing from her soul, like them powerful soulful singers of yesterday - Labelle and The Franklins or my girl, Millie Jackson. And it was a party to honor Ernie Barnes, the original painter of the Sugar Shack.
2009
18" x 14"
Acrylic on Canvas Panel
000071
This painting was based on my memories of my time in Jamaica. A picture on my granny's wall. I am not sure if it was a photo or a professional photo. I was thinking of what it would be like to be at home, sitting there, enjoying a smoke and drawing and to hear my Babe call my name and wonder was I dreaming or if she would have really given it all up for me to hang out with me on this simple rock.
June, 2020
18" x 24"
Acrylic on Canvas Panel
000715
Once my son asked me what’s it like in prison. I told him it’s like a huge cliff with the ocean at its border. At first glance, the waves that’s crashing on the rocks don't seem like it’s doing anything. But each time that water hits that rock, it’s taking a tiny piece of it. Forever changing it.
September, 2015
14" x 18"
Acrylic on Stretched Canvas
000451
More than ever, in recent years, we, the men and women and young people who live within the low income housing projects, need to redefine our realities. To do this we need to have and feel the safety to play, to grow and to explore the infinite potential of our people.
August 17, 2015
14" x 18"
Acrylic on Stretched Canvas
000440
The love of a mother can be felt through her hands as she uplifts her seed. The hands of the child reach for its goddess and between them we find the hope that is tomorrow. The child learns to turn her face toward the light of God and dance through the reality and complexity of life, moving from the mindset of a little princess to that of a goddess.
December, 2013
14" x 18"
Acrylic on Canvas Panel
000361
There have been many songs and paintings that depict hood life. Tupac made “My Block.” Too Short made “The Ghetto.” Scarface’s whole career depicted hood life, “What do you see” being up there. Geto Boys: “Crooked Officer” or “Ghetto Fantasy.” Common’s “The Corner.” Or N.W.A.’s “F*** the Police.”
But none is more widely celebrated or accepted or played every summer at a cookout or family reunion somewhere than the Fresh Prince song, “Summer Time.”
This painting, for me, is along those lines. My hood was more than gang shootings, rapes, murders, robberies. My hood was those things. But friendships, family, happiness, joy, creativity and the innocence of a child also existed within my hood.