Beyond the Badge, CDCR Weekender, Rehabilitation

HDSP officer’s art project fosters community

April 5, 2025

Correctional Officer Joshua Nakken’s art project is fostering a sense of community and hope at High Desert State Prison (HDSP).

Nakken has been with the department for 20 years, all of them at High Desert. Over those two decades, he has worked various positions inside HDSP at Susanville.

Before joining corrections, he worked security for Native American casinos throughout the state.

We caught up with Officer Nakken to learn more about a unique art project he’s leading at the prison.

He said he’s always had an eye for art and even designs t-shirts and logos for family events or small businesses. At the county level, he won art awards when he was younger.

“I’ve kept that passion close to my hear through the years,” he explained. “One of my hobbies is painting small models for tabletop games using multiple methods (with) my favorite being airbrush.”

From miniature to full size art

Alice in Wonderland doorway painting at High Desert State Prison in Susanville, an art project headed up by a correctional officer.

Painting of a mountain lake on a concrete prison wall in Susanville, California.

While his hobby is miniature in scale, for a decade he has been wanting to do something bigger.

“It has been an ambition of mine to do a large-scale art project within the prison system,” Nakken said. “I find the environment difficult to keep a positive attitude. With the bland concrete grey and blue color scheme of the industrial-style housing units, it feels like you’re working in a warehouse.”

According to Nakken, the buildings can be depressing for staff as well as those who are housed there.

“The incarcerated population have an indifferent attitude toward the various buildings. They often say one is just as good as another,” he said. “There is no sense of belonging or attachment to any given building, even though they often live in the same buildings for years at a time.”

Nakken credits the principles of the California Model as the inspiration for the High Desert State Prison art project.

“Recently I heard about the California Model and saw an opportunity to make a real change to the prison environment as I imagined it could be. With the permission of the Facility Capt. Matt Williams, and a blessing from our current Warden Rob St. Andre, I began my art project,” he said.

HDSP officer took steps to begin art project

Art project black-and-white painting of a desert landscape with the moon in the background.

Underwater life painting at High Desert State Prison in Susanville, California.

He set about gathering supplies and recruiting help.

“I acquired some paints and brushes and began to paint, utilizing local talent from the population and myself to finish the paintings,” he said. “I had a simple idea (to) paint each plumbing chase door in my building to look like a doorway to another world.”

The artistic improvements to the building began to make a difference for those who live there.

“As the project continued, I noticed a change in the population,” Nakken explained. “The more color that went on the walls, the more pride the population showed in their building. All of a sudden, it was not just another building to them, it was their home, their neighborhood and their community.”

The changes in attitude and mindset didn’t happen overnight, but they are happening.

Changed attitudes through art project

“I soon saw the population changing their mindset slowly, going from inmate to citizen. Any behavior that cast a shadow on the building was strongly discouraged. After all nobody wants misbehavior in their community, and as a result, there has been a noticeable decrease in violence and rules violations reports in the building,” he said. “Meanwhile, the other buildings on the yard have maintained similar numbers throughout the project.”

Now with the art project nearing completion, others are asking him to expand the vision to other housing units.

“As this project wraps up, I have been encouraged to expand it toward the other buildings on the yard. Only time will tell if this idea has a measurable impact on the population, or if it was just a fluke in one building. I look forward to finding out.”

Story by Don Chaddock, Inside CDCR editor
Photos by Lt. J. Micone

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