During our founder Broderick Smith's incarceration in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, he encountered many inmates who had limited or no support. Most of them looked to the illegal prison drug trade as a means to provide themselves food, hygiene, and other necessities.

Upon further inspection, he noticed most of those same individuals were very talented artistically — drawing beautiful artworks, but only as a hobby. He asked a few of them why they didn't sell their art instead of drugs. They all gave him variations of the same three answers:

Even though those answers were valid, Broderick realized they were only half of the problem. He glanced around the day room one day and saw inmates sitting around gambling, arguing, or high off drugs. None of them seemed to be bettering themselves. None of them seemed to have a plan for their time incarcerated.

Broderick was struck — but the reason was apparent. Too many prisoners feel like they're doing useless or "dead" time and begin to see their incarceration as a sort of pause in their lives. That couldn't be further from the truth. And so, The Art of Reform® was created.

Once prisoners found out there was a way for them to provide for themselves legally and peacefully, they were ecstatic. They boasted about how much better it felt compared to selling drugs. One inmate told Broderick how he made sure to stay out of trouble so he could remain able to buy art supplies. Others thanked him earnestly after making commissary for the first time in months — even years.