Throughout Missouri Department of Corrections institutions, artists and artistry abound.
Story by Marcus Wilkins. Photos by Garry Brix.
Like bikes lined up on a Harley-Davidson showroom floor, brightly painted models gleam under the fluorescent lights of Dynamo House at Northeast Correctional Center (NECC). Cobalt blue, Kelly green and fire-engine red frames encase intricately sculpted pistons, camshafts and cylinders — all painstakingly assembled.
motorcycles or charity someday.
At first glance, the miniaturized motorcycles — created by NECC residents Mark Eighinger and Richard McCool — appear to be made of metal or plastic. Even up close, it’s hard to tell they’re fashioned largely from discarded paper, glue and paint.
“The first thing I ever owned in my life was a motorcycle, and my grandfather in Texas taught me how to build them from the ground up,” Eighinger said. “For these, we use origami paper and paint from the canteen, and whatever else we can find — highlighter caps, earbuds, Q-Tips, paper clips, even Little Debbie boxes.”
For many incarcerated Missourians, artistic endeavors such as these offer a therapeutic outlet and a productive way to pass the time. McCool, who previously had only a mild interest in motorcycles, became immersed after a former resident handed down his prized schematics before his release.
Northeast Correctional Center (NECC) residents,
display a pair of their hand-sculpted motorcycles
made from paper and found materials.
“He gave me three pieces of paper that had everything — the motor, cooling fins, wheels,” McCool said. “It took me about 60 days to build my first one. Now it takes about 30.”
Resident-created art appears in many forms throughout Missouri Department of Corrections (MODOC) facilities, including leatherwork, woodwork, paintings (murals and framed pieces), performing arts and tattooing — now offered at two facilities, with a second studio recently opened at Algoa Correctional Center (ACC), in addition to the one at Western Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center (WRDCC).
To Alex Bonebrake, former supervisor of the WRDCC tattoo apprenticeship program, the quality of artistry inside MODOC institutions isn’t surprising.
“The guys I taught were phenomenally talented, and there’s a lot of overlap between tattoo art, comic-book art and street art,” Bonebrake said. “When I was tattooing full time, we used to say ‘the best artists are in prison.’ ”
Bars and Frets
Singer-songwriter Jeremiah Johnson tunes his Yamaha acoustic guitar with absent-minded familiarity while discussing his songwriting process. After placing a clip-on tuner to achieve the right key, he expertly strums and adjusts the pegs for his first song, “Hold Fast Holly.”
“There was a world inside of me, inside of my head — like everybody,” said Johnson, a Jefferson City Correctional Center (JCCC) resident. “When I heard modern artists, and the music that would come out of them, I thought, ‘Where does this come from?’ Knowing that they are human beings, and I’m also a human being, I must have this stuff inside, too.”
and singer-songwriter Jeremiah Johnson has
written and recorded several albums over the years.
Johnson’s solemn, often mournful lyrics are set to a gentle yet kinetic finger-picking method — à la “The Boxer” by Paul Simon or “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas. It’s a style he has honed since age 19, when he joined a ’90s Christian ska band in his hometown near Springfield. After taking fledgling steps on an electric bass — and immediately blowing out the amp at an early performance —he switched to acoustic guitar.
“I was in high school choir, so I loved the concept of vocal harmony,” Johnson said. “Dave Matthews had just come out. He used so much rhythm, and that’s when I discovered all these sounds were occurring on a single guitar.”
Coming from a Missourian serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole, Johnson’s songs also explore remorse, endurance, hope and life’s uncertainty. It’s a process he now shares among fellow resident-musicians in JCCC’s honor dorm, which opened in October 2025. On Friday nights, the group gathers in a carpeted area to trade riffs, workshop lyrics and support one another through harmonic creativity.
“When you discover parts of yourself that reach other people and touch their hearts, it’s a part of your humanity that never burns out,” Johnson said. “It doesn't matter if you’re free or bond or what race or age or anything — humans are humans. When you sing about your humanity, someone else is going to hear it and they’re going to feel it.”
Concrete Canvas
Inside the visiting room courtyard of Moberly Correctional Center (MCC), a series of boldly painted murals depicts historical scenes from across Missouri: Pony Express, University of Missouri Columns (and mules), Mark Twain Riverboat and St. Louis Theater sign, to name a few.
The images serve as virtual portals to the surrounding Show-Me State, enlivening and brightening the space where families come to visit their incarcerated loved ones.
Spirit stealth bomber based at Whiteman Air Force
Base near Knob Noster, Missouri.
“Painting gives me something positive to focus on,” said Jason Booth, MCC resident and one of two artists collaborating on the project. “In here, you have to find something — whether it’s positive or negative — and I choose the positive. I found something to make myself better and continually work at. I’m always trying to learn something.”
Booth and fellow resident-artist Brian Cox use a projector to cast an enlarged image of their smaller-scale versions onto the wall. Using charcoal or pencil for the initial sketch, the artists then use acrylic- and oil-based paint to layer their masterpieces.
Although the work is on pause due to frigid winter temperatures, Cox is currently rendering the U.S.S. Missouri battleship, while Booth — who, as a JCCC resident in 2025, also contributed to the America 250 artwork featuring famous scenes from the nation’s founding displayed at the Missouri State Fair — puts the finishing touches on twin portraits of World War II-era U.S. Army General Omar Bradley, from Clark, Missouri; and U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant, who lived in St. Louis.
painting of the U.S.S. Missouri — a larger version
of which is in progress behind him.
“I’m still at that stage where I’m always trying to discover something new and experimenting with new techniques,” Cox said. “I might’ve been doing it one way, then I might flip it and do it a completely different way that I didn’t even think about at first.”
For the artistic duo, the project is also literal proof that if you embrace a step-by-step process and work toward a goal, you can bring your dreams to life.
“There’s nothing better than the feeling you get when you step back to look at something and you’re like, wow,” Cox said. “That looks pretty neat. Just like I imagined.”
