We think of a prison as a cold place: sterile concrete, barbed wire, guard towers. Theeyes of inmates dull, bereft of hope, freedom lost.
But hidden inside Oregon State Penitentiary, inmates exude a new energy. Alongsiderenowned Japanese garden designer Hoichi Kurisu, they are creating a traditional
Japanese garden in their prison yard. The idea formed five years ago inside of themaximum-security prison with the hope of providing a healing place where nature
could reconnect inmates with their humanity.
When I visited in late May, Kurisu and some of the inmates were busy working on thegarden. I was pleasantly surprised to see traditional Japanese elements such as pinetrees, lanterns, the beginnings of a pond and boulders. It was impressive.

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Kurisu directed the inmates to guide the moss-covered rocks above the pond via amechanical crane. The massive boulders, which will eventually be part of a waterfall
feature, were striking — and that is the point.
“When we put bigboulders in thewater, it makes us
think we are innature, not justshowing beauty
here," says Kurisu.
"When we feel partof nature, webecome humble andit brings us goodinspiration forhealing.”
Hoichi Kurisu was born in Hiroshima, where he witnessed the city’s atomic bombing in
1945. As a child, he loved his grandfather’s niwa, or garden. After working briefly in
the United States with his father, Kurisu went back to Japan to study with master
Kenzo Ogata. He returned to the US and started his landscaping career at thePortland Japanese Garden in 1968. Over the past 50 years, he has designed manyaward-winning gardens. When Kurisu found out about the prison garden proposal, hewas so impressed that he donated his time and money to make it a success.

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The idea for thishealing garden
began five years
ago, when Johnny
Cofer, 46, serving
two concurrent life
sentences formurder, suggestedbuilding a small koi
pond to help
beautify the yard ata meeting between
the inmate-run Asian
Pacific Club and aformer prison
superintendent. This
seed has grown, as the current superintendent and community saw the restorativevalue of inmates creating a large-scale Japanese garden within the prison walls.
Cofer hadn’t touched a tree in the 20 years he had been in prison. He felt hopelessand lost.
“This garden has essentially saved my life," he says. "And I hope some other men thatare incarcerated here can also find some light from that garden. And that it can givethem some hope. It's transformed me.”
Although aware he will be in prison for life, Cofer feels it is his responsibility to help
others who will someday return to society. The garden has helped him find hispurpose.
"Ninety-four to ninetyfive percent of ourpopulation are going tobe outside again," says
Brandon Kelly,Superintendent atOregon State
Penitentiary. "They'regoing to be ourneighbors. They’re going
to be out in thecommunity."
Anyone who has spent time in nature has felt its calming power. That's why the prisonand community are both banking on the fact that building and tending a garden canhelp inmates rehabilitate before they reenter society.

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Support from the community has meant a lot to this project, since no taxpayer money
is involved. The Asian Pacific Club has raised $400,000 for the garden so far, while 5
percent of donations have come from inside the prison.
This project has had some unique challenges for designer Kurisu and the inmates.
The Department of Corrections has strict guidelines for materials allowed in prison
yards, and because security cameras and guard towers must have visibility of theinmates at all times, the height of trees and other features is limited.
The prison administration, staff, inmates, the community and even the Department
have been working to make this ambitious project a success. Though the Japanesegarden won’t be completed until this summer, the healing has already begun.
Kurisu is teaching the Asian Pacific Club how to tend the garden once its finished.
Everyone involved is hoping the idea of this garden will grow and bear fruit elsewhere.

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