In 1998, my husband, Architect David Madeira, and I bought a one acre neglected corner lot with a dilapidated bungalow. ​Until the 1700s, the site was  inhabited by Lenape Indians. In the early 1920’s, it was a recreational retreat for African-American communities. When we arrived, there were a few plants but the dominant energy emanated  from three massive oak trees.

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Twenty five years later, I continue to garden here year after year, refining and adding to a vision of color and contrast. In solitude, on this restorative property, I have the opportunity to think deeply while gardening, writing, working with clay and painting. I often find myself thinking about the meaning of pardoning.  What did the Ancients know when they described it as "the highest form of justice"? 

I began observing the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons in 1988, during the time when I taught painting in State Correctional Institutions.  I had access to a hidden culture.  I painted and recorded life-sentenced prisoners directly, witnessing the humanitarian crisis of a politicized and indifferent Pennsylvania Board of Pardons. In the early 1990’s I worked with the only person employed by the state correctional system to represent prisoners seeking pardon, primarily for life-sentences.  As the Director of the Arts and Humanities Program at the Pennsylvania Prison Society,  I initiated programs designed to bring visibility to lifers.  I visited Harrisburg over the period of one year, monthly, to observe the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons' activities.  I saw the devastation experienced by unforgiven and long rehabilitated prisoners.  Many of them were incarcerated as children, inhumanely trapped for decades. 

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Pennsylvania is one of a few states where all life-sentences are issued without parole.  Instead of typically serving the minimum sentence as a means of release, freedom depends upon the mercy of the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons and ultimately the Governor. Legions of rehabilitated prisoners who otherwise would have completed their minimum sentences are instead warehoused for decades, kneecapping not only them, but their families, communities, and, therefore, all of us.
 

Besides being a place where I create and live, the Pardon Garden's close proximity by train makes it an egalitarian site. It is a quiet, nourishing space, immersed in nature- a retreat. The Pardon Garden welcomes visionaries who realize the urgency to develop and put in place effective strategies to restore the noble practice of pardoning. 

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