BUFFALO, N.Y. — Where some people see prison paperwork, Ian de Beer sees art. Thirteen years after he was arrested for graffiti in Pittsburgh, Ian is using prison forms from his yearlong sentence to make screen-printed art.

What You Need To Know

  • Ian de Beer, an artist from Buffalo, is working to pay back restitution after a 2008 arrest for graffiti in Pittsburgh
  • As part of his parole, de Beer must live with a relative until he pays back nearly $60,000 in restitution and interest
  • de Beer is known for murals around Buffalo, including the "Keep Buffalo a Secret" mural on Main Street
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"I had no idea, until I was sentenced, that it was a possibility to be sentenced that long for graffiti," he says.

Ian began spray painting when he was a 14-year-old in Buffalo.

"At that time, it was an untapped, post-industrial, urban decay wasteland," he says. "For fun, we would just ride our bikes around and get into trouble."

Ian moved around and settled in Pittsburgh, where he became one of the most prolific graffiti artists in the city. The Buffalo native was eventually caught, arrested, and given a prison sentence of one to three years. He was paroled after a year in state prison and four months in a halfway house — with an unusual condition.

"They said I wasn’t allowed to own or possess art-making materials," he says. "They listed out all of the materials, which included everything. Pens, pencils, chalk."

Ian adjusted by getting into conceptual art, which doesn't require the use of pens or pencils, and attending classes at the University at Buffalo. His parole officer found him painting in his mother's house, which constituted a parole violation, and landed Ian in jail for three months.

"I had to pay full tuition for the semester, and I had a 0.0 GPA," he says. "So it wasn’t just frustrating, it was a major life setback."

Ian persevered — after leaving jail, he completed his business degree and was happy to see the ban on "art-making materials" lifted from his parole. Another condition for his parole makes it difficult to earn a living as an artist: he has to live with a relative until he pays back his restitution, nearly $60,000 after interest. 

That's where a childhood friend stepped in to help.

"I knew that a lot of people would not necessarily want to buy the art he was making," says Sam Fleming, one of Ian's classmates at City Honors who set up a GoFundMe page for Ian in December. "I thought maybe a faster way would be to give anybody the opportunity to donate $5 or $20 who either know Ian, know where he comes from, know his story."

Click here for a link to Ian's GoFundMe, and click here if you're interested in purchasing one of Ian's prison prints.

Ian also creates custom art from his studio. You can contact him at Ian.debeer87@gmail.com or find him on Instagram at @ian_de_beer_ to learn more.