Hutchinson ? When he paints, Robert Roux is free.

Free of the prison walls that confine his life to a daily routine of work, food and sleep. Free from the dreariness of life behind bars. Free, he says, to see beautiful things.

“When I paint, I can paint things that I can’t see because I’m here, inside the walls,” Roux, a large man with neatly trimmed beard, says with a sigh. “It’s an escape.”

For Roux, one of five inmate painters at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility’s Rock Castle Jaycees Job Shop, painting is more than a hobby, more than a passion. It’s his job.

Five days a week Roux and his co-workers sit down in front of a canvas and, on consignment, create art. For as little as $50, they can transform old photos of Grandma or the family’s pet cat into living color.

Glen Lee, director of the job shop, said painting on consignment allowed inmates a chance to get out of their cells and earn a little bit of money. Although the paintings, depending on size, sell for upward of $50, the inmates are paid $1.05 a day. The rest of the proceeds go to the Jaycees to fund prison programs.

But painting on consignment, far from the public eye, makes finding customers difficult, Lee said.

“I could tell it wouldn’t be long before every corrections officer in here had a portrait painted,” Lee said, “so I knew we need to find more customers.”

Lee contacted Jim Jackson, assistant director of operations at the Reno County Museum, and asked if he knew of any subjects the inmates could paint.

This painting of the old Santa Fe Depot in downtown Hutchinson was painted by Robert Roux, one of five inmate painters who earn .05 per day for their work.

Jackson supplied the inmates with photos of historic Hutchinson buildings and was amazed by the results.

“It was the quality of the work that just blew me away,” Jackson said about the paintings, which brought to life buildings such as Hutchinson’s old courthouse and the Santa Fe Depot.

Jackson said he planned to start selling the artwork at the museum’s gift shop, with proceeds going back to the prison art program. After being shocked at what was produced already, he’s excited to see what else the inmates can produce.

But for Roux, who has been painting for more than three decades, it’s not so much about what art he creates. He’s just happy he has a chance to paint at all.