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Artist Omari Booker, formerly incarcerated, frames ‘home’ and healing in Arts Commission session
Summary
At an Arts Commission meeting, artist Omari Booker described using art to explore the meaning of "home," recounting a history of incarceration and recovery while workshop participants offered definitions and showed handmade "positive sticks."
At an Arts Commission meeting, artist Omari Booker, who described himself as "based in Nashville," spoke about using art to explore the meaning of "home" and as a part of his recovery after incarceration. "My name's Omari Booker, artist based in Nashville," he said, adding that he served a 15-year prison sentence and was released after about three and a half years.
Booker told the commission that making art helped his recovery. "I got out and started making art everyday because art was extremely healing," he said. He introduced a workshop prompt inviting participants to complete the sentence "home is..." and described plans to make artwork inspired by the idea of home.
The session that followed was a group conversation about what "home" can mean. Participants offered short, personal definitions: one called it "where the people that care about you" are, another said "home can be a tent," and others cited "peace of mind," "backyard" and "no drama." Several speakers emphasized mutual support and safety: "We stick together ... you have somebody who has your back," a participant said.
A participant displayed small handmade items he called "positive sticks," explaining they were made from coffee stir sticks and other found materials. "This right here is not gonna be free. It ain't gonna be free," the participant said about the objects, adding they were made for people who come to live there. Another speaker referenced someone they know in prison, saying, "there's a guy... named Bob Manny, he's in prison." These remarks were part of broader personal accounts about housing, community and belonging.
The discussion remained conversational and workshop-oriented; there were no formal votes, directives or policy decisions recorded in the transcript. Participants repeatedly returned to the themes of family, friendship and safety as central to the idea of home, and several described art-making as a practical form of mutual support and expression.
The Arts Commission session continued with further sharing and small-group conversation after Booker’s presentation and the participant displays.
