Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Celaya.
Hi Daniel, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
After serving half my life in prison, nearly two decades, I created a nonprofit called Imerj Art & Advocacy Projects where we represent and promote incarcerated and formerly incarcerated artists. We represent justice-impacted art, not prison art. This project began back in 2014, while I was at the Coffield Unit in solitary confinement or as TDCJ calls it “restrictive housing”, I spent 8 and half years of my sentence in these conditions. I had been drawing and painting since I was an adolescent, but It was there that art took on a new meaning in my life, It saved my life. I was at the point where I did not want to wake up anymore, I didn’t have a life, I merely existed in a 5 x 10 concrete box, with myself and by myself all day everyday. Then I started drawing and painting again with whatever I had. I improvised tools and material out of my own hair, pages out of books, pigments from pieces of color pencils I crushed up and mixed with petroleum jelly. I even painted entire cell walls with concepts that inspired me from life, nature and readings. Art kept me productive and proactive, it helped me redirect misdirected energy. I befriended another Aritst by the name of Mike and we communicated by yelling through vents or under door cracks, or sign language, we’d even convene on the restrictive housing rec yards when they’d call Recreation, speaking through individual cages. I’d be in one small cage and he’d be in another one, this is where we hatched a plan to have someone help us get our artwork out to the “free world” and sell it for us. After a handshake agreement with my aunt and mother, we started sending our artwork out to them and they would sell it for us when they had downtime from their own careers. They sold it on the streets in Dallas, at backyard art exhibitions that were literally in backyards in marginalized communities. They also made a Facebook page to sell the artwork. This is where I found my purpose in life. As time went on and our network started growing in the art community of Dallas, a man by the name of Murray Smither discovered us: Murray was a subject matter expert in outsider art, he was also an art appraiser and consultant. He discovered artist Frank Jones from the Huntsville unit aka The Walls Unit in 1964 and helped catapult his work which some of it now belongs to the Smithsonian American Art Museum, American Folk Art Museum and MoMA. Other works from Frank Jones are at Sam Houston State University which is apart of the Murray Smither Collection there or in the hands of private collectors. This human being who called himself Murray Smither, discovered me from those exact circumstances and my family eventually after many decades and began facilitating spaces and venues in the arts district of Dallas for us. Murray also curated and judged the shows, he invited other outsider artists to help him curate and judge shows for us, all while I was incarcerated. He mentored my family and I throughout the decade. Unfortunately he passed away shortly before I released from prison (I released March 8, 2024) and I never was able to meet him in person. If I did, I’d thank him for everything he did for my family and I and tell him how he helped save my life. Immediately after I released I started working on the plans I drafted all those years in prison to form a nonprofit and filed paperwork on it once I had enough money from working hard labor, hard labor are the only jobs that will hire felons. At the same time I enrolled at Sam Houston State University, home to the #1 Criminal Justice Program in Texas, where I’m majoring in communications with a minor in criminal justice. In November of 2024 I met with Murray’s cousin John Smither, who was also a mentee of Murray and a well known art aficionado, and we connected immediately. We discussed who Murray was as a person and we discussed how we could continue his legacy. John and I took to the task to make that a reality and he helped me create our space The Be Free Gallery, which is located a block away from The Walls Unit where Murray first discovered Frank Jones. Since then it hasn’t been easy but it’s passion in the arts and the love for those impacted by the criminal justice system that drives us. Since our opening in February of 2025, we’ve created community through justice-impacted art and impacted many circles, including justice-impacted communities, academic communities, and art communities. Our project provides healing to the communities impacted by the criminal justice system, victims and offenders. This project provides research to the academic community. This project provides intrinsic value and social value along with education to the arts community. We also have cultivated meaningful relationships with those that have shown interest in our work, including artist Vincent Valdez who is now an advisor on our board, Collector Lester Marks, Houston-based artist Gonzo and Linda Wiley. We now have a partnership with Sam Houston State University’s center for Community Engagement in a work-study program offering students internships. We’ve also collaborated with the University of Houston Clear Lake “Art from the Inside” and ACLU “End Cash Bail” at the Lawndale Arts center in exhibitions. We are now reaching out to community stakeholders and potential partners in Houston to expand our mission. I’m not sure where we’ll be in a year, but I know that everyday we do our best and find peace with ourselves and thats all we can do. A friend of Murray’s and I once asked Murray, “If he had to sell one of his pieces of art, which one could he part with most easily… of course, you know what Murray said…. “I love all of them…I know every piece and every artist, and love them all the same”. At Imerj we know every piece and every artist, and we love them all the same.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It takes a lot of resources and effort to keep this project going; as well as cover essential operating costs, including staff salaries.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m an artist, activist and community builder
What do you like and dislike about the city?
We love the diversity the best and the lack of zoning regulations the least.
Pricing:
- We are a nonprofit and art pieces are acquired based on donations
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Imerjart.com
- Instagram: @imerjart
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1CdxiPF6Fa/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Image Credits
Image credits go to my wife Damaris Barocio
