Richard Phillips holds the unfortunate record of longest imprisonment as an innocent man. For 46 years, Phillips did time for a murder he did not commit – until one judge reviewed his case and realized a great injustice had taken place. An accuser who had lied finally came clean and confessed that he was the guilty party. To stay sane under such injustice, Phillips became a self-taught artist. Behind bars, he painted more than 400 paintings. Today his paintings sell in the thousands.
“I’ve never had any art or fine arts classes,” Phillips says. “I’ve never had any training in art. It was God’s gift. When I went to prison, I started studying on my own—colors, contrasting colors, kind of perfecting my skills at that point. I had to go through books to get the knowledge that I do have.”
Phillips was sentenced to prison for life in 1972, when he was 26 years old. A married man with two children, he would miss his family most. He had been accused of a murder and misidentified by a “witness,” while an acquaintance accused him to the police—without evidence. His public defender offered no defense, called no witnesses, failed to verify his alibi.
“I did have a juvenilistic background,” Phillips says. “I quit school when I was in 10th grade and started hanging out in the streets with what I guess you could call gangs. Dropping out of school was probably the biggest mistake I made. It put me in an environment hanging out with people I didn’t necessarily like or have the same kind of personality.”
A couple of those friends, he says, went out and robbed a store and later murdered a man. During that robbery, Phillips was staying in a motel about 10 miles away. He was never given a chance in the courtroom to give his alibi. Many years and failed appeals later, a judge took an interest in his case and brought it back into the courtroom. The man who had accused him finally confessed his own guilt. At long last, the doors opened for Phillips.
During his imprisonment, Phillips sent his paintings to a pen pal to hold for him. Once free, he collected his work and, with help, organized an art show. Twenty paintings sold—and continued to sell for ever higher prices. He continues to paint today—and even expresses gratitude for his time in prison.
“Had I not gone to prison, I would not have had that vision to better myself,” he says.
Phillips will be speaking at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts on Tuesday, February 25, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Admission will be free and open to the public. Attendees will have an opportunity to meet and interact with Phillips following the lecture. A limited number of prints will be available for sale.
Listen to WMUK's Art Beat every Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 4:20 p.m.
