T he Arts and Science Center in Pine Bluff isn’t known exactly for living at the edge, but there’s not much that’s not edgy about one of its current exhibits, that being the work of an artist serving a life sentence for murder.
His name is Kenneth Reams. He grew up in Pine Bluff and got into trouble. A lot of trouble. At 18 he was convicted of capital murder for being an accomplice in the killing of a man at an ATM. He was on death row for 25 years while the person who actually pulled the trigger was serving life without the possibility of parole. Eventually, Reams was given a reprieve. He’s still serving life without parole at the Varner Unit, but the courts removed him from facing capital punishment.
His work, “Parking Lot Space: Artworks by Kenneth Reams,” is on display in the William H. Kennedy Jr. Gallery and there are about 50 pieces. The curator also created a living space of sorts, the size of a parking space, giving attendees an idea of what it is like to live “a life on a postage stamp,” like Reams does every day.
Even though Reams is in prison, he returned to art – something he was doing before he was arrested. One of his pieces, “The Last Mile,” is a black door, framed by four intersecting bars, that sits at the end of a white hallway. “It refers to the perceived distance that a condemned prisoner must walk from his cell to the death chamber on the day of his execution,” the artist states. “The journey from cell to door is short in steps, but the distance is psychologically vast. At the end of this hallway is an imposing and ominous door. On the other side of that door lies oblivion and eternity.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The exhibit was also unusual in that a panel gathered to discuss the work and what it means, as well as life’s choices. Reams made a very bad one at age 18, and there is no getting around the fact that, barring something dramatic happening, he will never return to a normal life. That doesn’t mean, however, that he can’t contribute to society, which is what he has done with his passion.
There may be some who harrumph and think such an exhibition is beneath them. Our take is that this is a powerful exhibit that forces one to consider much about life and what it means to lack a full and complete one — bars or no bars. As the writer of the article in The Commercial said: this is a must-see.