Alumni Spotlight: Matt Insley
“I was known for playing the guitar in the prison yard. Out of nowhere, this man walks up to me and says, ‘If you tell anybody I’ll kill you. I need you to write a song for my wife.” [That’s why] art is more than art. It’s the suspension of disbelief, it’s the opportunity to go somewhere else. That’s why we have theater, that’s why we have music. It is a three and a half minute escape.”
Matt has built his life around music. A self-described “music theory dork,” he plays multiple instruments and has composed several musicals. In prison, however, Matt had limited access to instruments or other music resources. So he went to Open Hearts Open Minds with a pitch: work together to create a music program for the inmates of Columbia River Correctional Facility. He says OHOM offered critical support to get the program off the ground, which provided “freedom for my community. Because when you show someone a little bit of piano, they light up. They just light up.”