Dean Gillispie grew up in southwest Ohio. As a child, he enjoyed building miniatures and model cars, what he calls "tinkering." When he was 24, he was convicted and sentenced for crimes he did not commit. He spent 20 years in prison before being released through the advocacy of his parents and the Ohio Innocence Project. While incarcerated, he created dozens of elaborate miniatures using materials he scavenged inside. His artwork was recently featured in the exhibition, Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration, at the Museum of Modern Art. He is now on the boards of the Ohio Innocence Project and After Innocence, helping other formerly incarcerated people re-enter their communities.