“In 2003, Santos was finally identified as the muralist, a story corroborated by retired guards who had served as models for characters. He eventually admitted to being the artist. He recounted in later newspaper articles that he was ashamed of his time in prison and he kept his involvement in the murals a secret. … Later, he opened a gallery in San Diego and embarked on a long career as a fine artist.” Santos was paroled after serving four years and returned to Southern California. “When Santos finished, the warden thanked him for dressing up the chow hall. He worked at night for more than two years, aided by two inmate helpers who moved scaffolding, and overseen by a single guard,” the Los Angeles Times reported on May 9, 2008. “Santos was assigned the job of filling the cafeteria’s blank walls in 1953 after winning a prison art competition. In 1953, he started painting what would eventually become a well-known collection of 100-foot-long murals.
That project, which today is considered a masterpiece and has gone through a series of restoration efforts, helped launch his art career. When Alfredo Santos was sentenced to San Quentin State Prison, he entered an art contest to paint murals in the dining hall. Murals at San Quentin detail landmarks in history The murals in San Quentin’s dining hall helped launch the artist’s career.The space age was documented in the San Quentin mural.The murals in San Quentin’s dining hall helped launch Alfredo Santos’ art career.