Paintings with Purpose: The Art of Raymond Towler

In 2010, after spending more than 29 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, Raymond Towler became a free man due to numerous rounds of DNA testing and the tireless work of reporters at The Columbus Dispatch and the legal staff of the Ohio Innocence Project at the University of Cincinnati College of Law’s Rosenthal Institute for Human Rights.

When Raymond was wrongfully convicted of rape, he was 24 years old, an Army veteran, and an aspiring musician and artist.  Despite his imprisonment, he continued composing and became a popular performer in prison. Since his release, the Cleveland native and multi-instrumentalist (guitar, bass, drums) has gone full throttle back into his musical career, becoming a contemporary jazz recording artist and releasing three albums full of compelling vocal and instrumental tracks thematically driven by his newfound status as a free man – This Freedom, This Freedom II and Life Is…