Something From Something: Philly Exhibition Celebrates Identity, Art, and Resilience

Welcome back on Philadelphia Live. I want to touch on something that is important the art of second chances and new beginnings so you have to wonder what happens when you give someone a second chance and the opportunity to show the world that who they really are a chance at redemption. Michael Butler, our next guest, spent 17 years behind bars and while incarcerated he discovered a passion for art that helped him find his voice And it gave him a second chance in life. Today he's an artist and community leader helping former incarcerated people rebuild their lives. And now his artwork and the stories that he has with Philadelphia artists are coming together with an exhibition called Something From Something. Michael Butler joins us tonight on Philadelphia Live to talk more about his journey and his artwork and the power of second chances. Michael, we appreciate you joining us on Philadelphia Live. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Appreciate it. Yeah, and so, you know, there's going to be a preview of the exhibition at the Philadelphia Foundation, an opening private reception that will take place November 10th. So tell us your backstory and just what changed your life, finding your love and your passion in art. So a little bit about me. At the age of 18, I was incarcerated. I was released in 2020. Being behind the wall, you know, it becomes mundane sometimes. And I just, like, picked up, you know, a pencil and started to sketch. And then I had a good friend who will be also in the exhibit. He kind of, like, you know, just told me to be free with whatever I was thinking about. And so it basically just gave my voice a different plateau being able to, you know, to be able to create artistically. And so my passion just comes from. Um, being able to talk about things and, um, express things in ways that I might can't do with words. Um, it lets me do it in the form of art behind bars. And then you pick up that pencil and you start sketching, you start doing art. Was there a moment that you can look back to? And you said, Oh, this is it. Like I have found my passion. Is there that one moment as you're going through this, where it just all clicked for you? I wouldn't say that, you know, just art being that, I feel my passion with that. I think just, When I look back, I was about to come home, not, not really knowing how to express those things. And, you know, I just picked up a brush and, and it just like took time away. I just went to a different place and I was just able to do things. And then, you know, people liked it. Like I didn't even think I was good at art. And so, um, people liked the art and it just kept me going. Um, but it also just came out of a place to just like, want to help people. Um, people that might be seeing things going on with the world and then, you know, I could express it through art and maybe that'll give a voice to some of the issues that we're facing. And so, um, what I do with art is, is basically, you know, just showing people that you don't have to be labeled, right? Like someone can see my art and doesn't, they don't even have to know about my past. They're just looking at the art. So I get to show up in that space as just an artist, not a I'm not a person that has a past of being. This may be a really deep question, but when people look at your artwork, what do you want them to know about you? What do you think they will learn about you by looking at your artwork? I hope they I hope they could just see like you know this guy just has something that he needs to get out and in my artwork it reflects what's going on behind the wall but as well as outside of the wall and so I see that every day with my work as the fountain fund if you give a person a safe haven they're able to accomplish all types of things when you're able to just meet some of some of the basic needs of people They're just able to just do what they need to do to be artistic or be expressive in their own way. And so I hope people walk away when they see my art and the other artists' art, is that these people are beautiful and that your past doesn't dictate what your future is. And you just need a safe haven to be able to express yourself and not be in a box. So that's just what I hope people see when they look at this art. You're talking about the Fountain Fund. Tell us about that, what that is, and what people can learn from that, and how it helps others. So how the fountain fund helps others is that we provide access to capital to people that are impacted by mass incarceration and we do that in the form of micro lending. When you come home it is very hard to you know access just regular things that normal people in society can access just because you've been behind the wall. So you know we're helping people start small businesses, we're helping people get housing, we're helping people get transportation. And all of these things like basically connect someone back to society and also just gives them dignity or also helping people with financial education. And we're just we're just providing a resource that's not normally there when people need to go to traditional banks. And since we've been here in Philadelphia since 2023, we've given out about one point nine million dollars in. And capital to get people started with some of the basic necessities, but also those second tier things that people need to move forward. And that's what we're doing here at the Fountain Fund. We're just helping people get in a safe space to give them their dignity back so they can connect back to society and get the things that really they need to get in basically what they should be getting. Not locking people out of systems because they have a past. and just basically educating people on monetary value and access to traditional banking because basically everybody is going to need that and so i feel like that's the gap that we're we're covering up and and i think and i know and i hope that it continues to help people because i know it is helping people i imagine it is extremely difficult being released from prison not only just getting acclimated back into everyday life but If you want to do something as far as get a loan, start a business, build a house, whatever it is, that is extremely difficult, and that's something that the Fountain Fund helps with, correct? Yes, that's exactly what we're helping with. As you know, in the city of Philadelphia, it can be hard to access housing, especially renting. You got to have first month, last month security deposit. And a person that's coming home that might not be in an elevated job, it's going to be hard for them to access that. And so what happens is they're either sleeping on a friend's couch or their parents' couch or whoever's couch. And that can kind of take dignity away. And so So what we do is we allow you to get your own. That's something that we're stopping and and again like it's hard to get jobs here where it's hard to just get extra money and so we come in and step into that entrepreneurial side. We hope that people start their businesses where it becomes hard with traditional banking to get access to that type of capital. We're also helping with transportation. A lot of jobs are outside the city and people need to get there and so they can't always rely on their family and friends and sometimes they can't work those extra hours with doing public transportation and so we come in there and we bury that barrier as well and so that's what we're just trying to do as the Fountain Fund. We're not the end-all or be-all but we just want to be a link in our ecosystem out here especially when it comes to re-entry. Michael, your artwork and the stories from two other Philadelphia artists are coming together in an exhibition called Something from Something. Tell us about that and what people can look forward to if they want to check it out. We named this Something for Something because, you know, like we're not coming. With nothing, everybody has something and it's just like what can we do to connect to that next something. And so that's why we came up with that name. It's about, you know, resilience. It's about restoring dignity. It's about second chances. And if you want to come check it out. It is open to the public. We opened in October. It'll close February the 27th. It's at 1835 Market Street suite 2410. You just go to the building and you say you want to you're here. to see the art exhibition, something from something, and they'll let you right up. And yeah, man, I hope whoever comes to see it, man, they're impressed and they take away. And also that they wanna get in this fight with us to support us. And if you do, you can go to www.fountainfund.org, read all about our mission. And the Fountain Fund is here to stay in Philadelphia and we're not gonna go anywhere, so for sure. Michael Butler, we appreciate you joining us and thank you for sharing your story and how you turned your life around, finding your passion and your love for art. And now you're trying to help others who are in the same situation. We appreciate you joining us on Philadelphia Live. Thank you. Thank you, Jeff. I appreciate you having me. All right, there's Michael Butler, spent time behind bars while incarcerated, discovered his passion for art, helped him find his voice. And you can check out Something from Something, an art exhibition coming up in the next few days, two days away on November 10th, welcoming art enthusiasts, community leaders, Philadelphia residents for an evening of creativity, connection, and meaningful conversation.