The first paños, made with pieces of bedsheets and pillowcases, were made in the 1930s. They were originally used to communicate messages. Since then, they became used for primarily artistic purposes, and are often made with handkerchiefs. Prisoners sometimes use paños to get favors.[2] Themes made with the artwork include Catholic faith symbols, Chicano political movement imagery, and prison imagery.[3]
Prisoners often mail their artwork to their families.[4] Families who receive the art put them in a box or binder as a keepsake instead of framing them.[2]
^Alejandro Sorell, Víctor (2004). "Pinto Arte". Encyclopedia of Latino Popular Culture: Volume 2. Greenwood Press. pp. 630–33. ISBN9780313332111.
^ abHoinski, Michael. "How Prison Art From Texas Captured the Art World's Attention." Texas Monthly. Thursday February 13, 2014. 1. Retrieved on March 3, 2014.
^Wertkin, Gerard C. Encyclopedia of American Folk Art. Taylor & Francis, January 15, 2004. p. 454. "The best paño artists combine standard prison imagery; the traditional symbols of Catholic faith; and the politicized imagery of the Chicano movement, including Aztec warriors and heroes of the Mexican revolution, to exhor[...]"
^ abHoinski, Michael. "How Prison Art From Texas Captured the Art World's Attention." Texas Monthly. Thursday February 13, 2014. 2. Retrieved on March 3, 2014.
