Off the Beaten Path: Former Liberty County Jail holds 'melting pot' of art

One of the best places to see art in Hinesville, Georgia, is in the drunk tank. And no, you don’t need to get thrown into the back of a police cruiser to take a look. That’s because the Liberty Melting Pot of Art, the preeminent art organization in the region, has turned the old Liberty County Jail into an art gallery.

“Every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, someone is here from 10-2,” said Abriana Brandt, one of the group’s newest members. “People can come in, check out the art. If they want a tour of the jail, they can do that too.”

Art Behind Bars

A sandwich board with a bright pink sign advertising the art gallery is the only clear indicator that visitors aren’t headed into your typical historic building. The brick and iron fence surrounding the property, which fellow Melting Pot member Judi Mills says was recently restored by students from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), is just as it appeared when the jail was still in use prior to 1970. The windows are barred, and the arched front door still requires the use of an old-timey, oversized iron key, exactly the type that you’d expect such an historic jailhouse would need.

Inside, however, amongst the thick bars and cement walls, art hangs everywhere.

“A couple of times a year we do what’s called a manifestation,” said Mills, as she pointed to a colorful painting she did on the theme of ‘belief,’ a painting hung just outside one of the cells on the second level, a cell that has been kept as it was originally, with a bed, toilet, and sink, as well as a reproduction of a section of prisoner-made graffiti. “We tell all the artists, the poets, everybody to do work on a particular subject.”

Near her painting were numerous portraits of celebrities, works done by another of her cohorts, Nancy Melchor. Melchor is a certified “Bob Ross Instructor,” advocating for the late afro-wearing painter’s joyful approach to art-making.

To the right of Melchor’s works, through a metal door into one of the jail’s cells, are a number of sculptural pieces, including wearable items created by Brandt, a potter. Fortunately for the clay artist, the next cell over from there includes a full pottery studio, a wonderfully jarring surprise to walk in on, given the surroundings.

Downstairs, where the aforementioned drunk tank is located, includes more of the same: There isn’t a wall without art. Stained-glass pieces, many created by Mills, hang in almost every window, the sun cascading through both the bars and the pieces themselves. Display cases feature yet more sculptural work. Even an antique rotary payphone, positioned on a bench in the corner of the entry area, has been painted to resemble a beehive.

“People come in either interested in the art or the jail,” said Mills. “You just have to have the right piece of art in the right spot for the right person to find it.”

'We really need to have an art festival'

Interestingly, the Liberty Melting Pot of Art’s presence in the jail is because of their other work to advocate for the arts in the region, rather than the beginning of the story of how they’ve transformed the artistic landscape of Hinesville. Each Thursday, for example, they set up a tent at the local farmers market, where they invite newcomers to join their group, and make folks aware of the city’s artistic offerings. Additionally, when downtown buildings have remained vacant for long periods, they’ve partnered with the city to create pop up art shows in the spaces in order to draw attention to the properties. And twice a year, they hold Art in the Park, a multi-disciplinary arts event that brings in folks from all over southeastern Georgia.

“We were sitting around one day saying, ‘We really need to have an art festival,’” Mills related of the day they decided to begin work on the first iteration of the event back in 2017.

It was soon after the Melting Pot had formed, out of a gallery space the artist had created in the side room of a bakery she’d owned at the time. In the moment, they weren’t sure what to expect. But when the day finally came, Bradwell Park, a local meeting spot filled with meandering paths, crepe myrtles, and live oaks, was packed with art lovers, and they knew that they were on to something.

“It was freaking amazing,” Mills laughed, gleefully. “We had people from the ages of 20 to 80 [participating]. We had just a huge variety of artists.”

At either end of the row of creatives were a saxophonist and a harpist, and the group brought in young people to dress up as mimes and mill about the festivities. They also had the Humane Society on hand to do adoptions and collect donations, a partnership that has continued to this day.

For Mills, however, that initial festival was about so much more: It was the first step in creating a new identity for her adopted hometown.

“Another reason we started doing the Art in the Park is because Hinesville didn’t really have anything,” Mills opined. “Tybee’s got the beaches, and [so does] St. Simon’s. But Hinesville doesn’t have ‘a thing.’”

“But what we do have is a huge mixed culture,” she continued, noting how the proximity to Fort Stewart Army Base means that there are always new folks calling the Georgia town home. “There’s people from all over the world that come through Hinesville. So we want to be able to say, ‘Yeah, we’re from Hinesville, that place with all that good culture.’”

Expanding the World of Art

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the Liberty Melting Pot of Art went mostly online, staying in touch through their Facebook group page. As things started to clear up, however, they were able to convince city officials to allow them to move into the old jail permanently. And in April of this year, they brought brought back Art in the Park, and the bi-annual event was once again well attended and well received.

Now the group is rounding up vendors for the fall iteration of festival, set to take place once again from 11a.m. through 4 p.m. on Saturday, September 14, in Bradwell Park. And they’re looking for new artists and new ideas.

“When people think of artists, they usually just think of painters and stuff,” noted Brandt. “We want to add more to that. For the April [Art in the Park], for example, we had a baker. We consider that to be art. We want to incorporate more musicians and dancers. Just expanding the world of art.”

They’re also hoping to bring in more creatives from Savannah, Darien and Richmond Hill, areas that they often visit, but from where they only very infrequently receive visitors themselves. Brandt noted that the most recent version of the fair had “several artists sell out,” and she, Mills, and her fellow Melting Pot artists want to show off all that they’ve been doing in Hinesville, a place that they believe is slowly transforming into a hub for the arts.

“We’ve got great culture,” said Mills. “Let’s do something fun.”

Those wishing to participate in the Liberty Melting Pot of Art’s fall Art in the Park event may submit an application at forms.gle/arCYRy3FSedK1oKXA, or in-person at Old Liberty County Jail. The deadline to apply is Monday, August 1, 2024, and costs $20 for members, or $40 for non-members.

The Old Liberty County Jail is located at 302 S. Main St. in Hinesville, Georgia, and is open Thursday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Old Liberty County Georgia Jail transformed into showcase for artists