Women's Exercise Program

A group of female offenders at the Utah State Prison have established an exercise program with the support of Utah Department of Corrections staff and officers. KSL-TV recently visited the Draper site to talk to the women directly about how the program has impacted their lives.

Read the story here.

Gingerbread Festival

It’s not just a house – it’s “gingerbread architecture.”

That’s how a group of female offenders at the Utah State Prison describe a pair of ornate and detailed sceneries they recently crafted over the course of just a couple weeks.

Since mid-October, a group of fewer than 10 women have been collaborating to design, bake and build two edible and aesthetically wondrous works of art. The first depicts a mountainous scene, complete with the balloon house from the Disney/Pixar movie “Up,” and intends to honor the Boy Scouts of America’s 100^th anniversary. The second is a massive and intricate model of the Notre Dame Cathedral inspired by “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”

The exquisite pieces will be featured in an annual gingerbread house competition hosted by the Boy Scouts of America and the PTA. Following an awards presentation and three-day event, the culinary creations will be auctioned to benefit Utah children through Learning for Life character education and the Utah PTA Arts Education Fund.

This is the ninth time women in the Utah State Prison have participated in the Gingerbread Festival. Prison Lt. Rod Villamil, who is once again spearheading the effort, said onlookers distracted by the creations’ beauty are always shocked to learn that inmates built the awe-inspiring works of art.

The women said they are thrilled for the opportunity to work together and do something creative with the time they spend in prison.

“In an institutional environment, the overall goal is homogenization. You try to toe the line,” said Carole Alden, a team member and artist who fashioned the characters depicted in the scenes using bread dough, fondant and food coloring. “But something like this really inspires people’s creativity. I’m grateful that we’re allowed to do this.”

And Janette Snyder said she gained skills and learned a lot about the craft of designing and building through the journey to create the gingerbread projects.

“I look forward to it, because you really form a meaningful association with these other women,” Snyder said.

Said Deb Brown: "It's the legal great escape."

The group used gingerbread, fondant, hard candies, frosting and food dye along with other materials such as lights. They worked in different shifts – often late into the nights and early mornings – whenever they could fit the project into their out of cell time. That meant juggling the artistic effort along with their usual classes, treatment or other programs.

So what was the hardest part of the whole project? The group notes they faced humidity that warped the shapes and bulged the windows of the cathedral. The group constructed a house, mountains, rocks, merit badges, cathedral walls, flying buttresses, bell towers, a steeple, cobblestones and snow flakes from gingerbread. Ailine Tauteoli notes they handcrafted trees, leaves and flowers from fondant as well as stained-glass windows from hard tack candy and finishing touches with royal icing. But Deb Brown insists the prize goes to the balloons on the “Up” scene. Though it appears to be gently floating an entire home through the air, the mass of fondant balloons feel more like a lead brick, making it difficult to steady the stick that served as a stand.

Eventually the group finished assembling all the separate parts and carefully pieced them together to form two masterpieces. In the end, the women said they were shocked by how coherently all the pieces and personalities came together.

A first-timer to the gingerbread project, Silia ‘Olive said she came in with a lot of anxiety and didn’t want to make a mistake. But after observing, baking and contributing to the project, she notes she’ll “really be ready for next time.”

As he thumbed through a photo album of past projects, Villamil pointed to multicultural projects, castles, dragons, and an impressive depiction of Hogwarts from the “Harry Potter” books and movies. But the inmates note that he’s never satisfied and continues to raise the bar every year, ushering in a new challenge.

He and fellow officers still face the daunting task of meticulously transporting the projects down to Orem for the festival coming up on Nov. 12, 13 and 15.

The women pieced together a brief written explanation to accompany each of the projects, including praise for supportive prison staff, namely Villamil, Deputy Warden Jerry Pope and Captain Mary Ann Reding. They also wrote a brief educational history of the Notre Dame de Paris and the Boy Scouts of America.

The women add that the gingerbread depictions are “ a small gesture…extended to society with sincere hearts…This is one step on our journey to becoming the women we are capable of being.”

Participating inmates:

-Sally Krivanek
-Barbara Curvin
-Carole Alden
-Silia 'Olive
-Deb Brown
-Janette Snyder
-Ailine Tauteoli

Photos: (Above) Barbara Curvin, left, and Carole Alden pose next to the gingerbread scene from the movie "Up."