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Painting Over It: Healing through arts at CIM

September 10, 2026

Damian Reyes entered the correctional system and faced a challenging new reality of rehabilitation and recovery. Over the course of his incarceration, and now at California Institution for Men (CIM), Reyes discovered a profound mechanism for survival and transformation:

Oils, Acrylics, Paint brushes and Canvas.

Reyes has converted incarceration into personal healing. Healing Through Arts is a rehabilitative program started at California State Prison, Los Angeles County. At CIM, it allows participants to express themselves in a positive manner, while developing personal growth and insight.

“I didn’t start out, you know, a good painting, but I’m working on that now,” Reyes said. “I’m using art as a vessel for that.

“I was broken, but i was able to fix the canvas, and paint over it.”

Reyes’s artistic journey mirrors the developmental stages of his artistic inspirations – Salvador Dali and Charles de Gaulle. Initially, his creative output was driven by a desire to maintain connections with the outside world. He created pieces exclusively for his family, using art as a bridge to transcend prison walls.

Transformation

As his technical skills advanced, Reyes’ reputation grew within the institution. Peer recognition shifted his perspective, turning a private hobby into a respected communal role.

Today, Reyes operates in a highly reflective creative space. His work balances an overall positive outlook with fleeting, honest moments of despair, capturing the reality of long-term rehabilitation.

Prison environments generate intense emotional states. Reyes utilizes painting to manage this emotional turbulence.

When anger or sadness peaks, the canvas acts as a non-destructive outlet. Rather than suppressing emotions or allowing them to manifest as negative behavior, Reyes channels his energy into brushstrokes. This process provides immediate catharsis and aids long-term psychological recovery.

Mistakes

Reyes sees a parallel between the artistic process and rehabilitation. He views both a painting and a life as structures built from errors, adjustments, and perseverance. His process:

The Initial Sketch: Both a new artwork and a life reset begin with a blank canvas, full of uncertainty and potential.

The Presence of Mistakes: Reyes openly acknowledges that his past and his paintings are full of errors.

The Beautiful End Result: In art, an accidental brushstroke or unexpected color blend can rescue a piece. Reyes applies this concept to his own life, viewing his past missteps not as permanent failures, but as necessary, textured underlayers of a beautiful final composition.

Within this changing landscape, art has granted Reyes a distinct social identity:

Validation: His specialized talent makes him feel accepted and genuinely needed by his peers and supervisors.

Prosocial Behavior: Reyes actively uses his work for altruistic purposes, donating pieces to bring joy to others.

Rehabilitation: This shift from a self-centric focus to community-minded generosity is a core milestone of successful behavioral rehabilitation.

Art provides Damian Reyes with a vocabulary to process trauma, a structured routine to build discipline, and a venue to practice radical honesty. By embracing the creative process, Reyes has transformed his identity from an inmate processing a sentence to an artist actively composing a meaningful future. And this rehabilitation is possible when Healing through Arts.

Story and video by Ryan Herrera, Television Specialist. Submitted by Omar Ramirez, Public Information Officer.

California Institution for Men.

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Painting Over It: Healing through arts at CIM

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