Gary Tyler

Gary Tyler is a fiber artist, currently living and working in Los Angeles, California. In 1974, at the age of 16, he was wrongly convicted of murder and placed on death row at Angola State Penitentiary in Louisiana. He endured nearly 42 years in prison, gaining his freedom in 2016, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled his sentencing unconstitutional. 

While incarcerated, Tyler participated in the prison hospice program, where he mastered the art of quilting, and chaired the prison drama club for almost three decades, using the transformative power of the arts to confront the challenges of incarceration. Tyler now dedicates his life to the visual and dramatic arts, using them as tools to foster community and heal the scars of mass incarceration. In recognition of his artistic contributions and cultural impact, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt) in 2024.

Tyler is a 2025 Last Resort Residency Prize Winner and was a Cultural Partner at the 2025 World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting. He was also a 2024 Right of Return Fellow through the Center for Art & Advocacy and a recipient of the Frieze Los Angeles Impact Prize, which recognizes artists making a significant impact on society with their work. 

Tyler’s work is in the collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History & Culture in Washington, DC, the City of Santa Monica Art Fund, and The Historic New Orleans Collection. In the fall of 2025, Tyler (with Ellen Bravo) released his memoir, Stitching Freedom: A True Story of Injustice, Defiance, and Hope in Angola Prison, published by One Signal Publishers.