Fernando Bermudez Tells His Story of Wrongful Conviction With Art You Can Proudly Wear

When the Innocence Project asked Fernando Bermudez to create a work of art for its 34th anniversary, he knew immediately that he didn’t want the piece to simply celebrate a milestone. He wanted it to tell a story.

The final design is vibrant and layered with symbolism: a DNA helix winds through the background, a bird takes flight from a pair of open hands, and “Innocence Project” appears in colorful graffiti-style lettering. Every element was intentional and invites people to look closely, to imagine freedom, and to understand that the fight to free innocent people is ongoing.

“The bird captures freedom,” he said, adding that the DNA helix represents the role forensic science has played in exonerating innocent people. “And the hands basically symbolized public support, the idea of hands coming together and cooperating to help free somebody.”

That message is deeply personal for Mr. Bermudez, who was wrongfully arrested at age 22 in 1991, and later convicted of a murder he did not commit. He spent 18 years in prison before he was exonerated in 2009. Over the years, he said, art became more than a creative outlet — it became a way to survive.

“During my incarceration, I just had to keep my sanity,” he said. “I started doing different forms of art, from vinyl art to envelopes, and I was selling it — or bartering it, I should say — for products in prison that I could just use to supplement myself and be self-sufficient.”

Fernando Bermudez shows his artist tag. (Image: Daniele Selby/Innocence Project)

Long before his wrongful conviction, Mr. Bermudez had already found his artistic voice in New York City’s graffiti culture. As a child in Manhattan’s Inwood neighborhood, he was captivated by the tags and murals he saw on subway cars and walls throughout the city. By the time he reached his teens, he was creating his own work under the graffiti name “Most” — a tag he chose because it was both simple to paint and memorable.

This new piece is rooted in Mr. Bermudez’s early artistic style, while the message behind the piece reflects the life he has lived since. And it will be featured on a tote bag, T-shirt, and hoodie as part of the Innocence Project’s 34th anniversary collection.

He also wanted the design’s bold palette to reflect the innocence movement’s diversity.

“I wanted to make it colorful and vibrant,” Mr. Bermudez said. “I felt that the Innocence Project represents so much diversification of people facing this problem.”

For Mr. Bermudez, the commission is especially meaningful because of his longstanding relationship with the Innocence Project. He began writing to the organization in the early ‘90s, seeking help to prove his innocence by filing an amicus brief that called out the faulty eye witness identification procedures that led to his wrongful conviction. Attorneys from the organization   later supported the pro bono legal team that helped secure his exoneration. After his release, Mr. Bermudez became a member of the Innocence Project’s Speakers Bureau.

Fernando Bermudez in New York City, July 2026. (Image: Daniele Selby/Innocence Project)

Today, he shares his story with audiences across the country, helping to raise awareness about wrongful convictions. He also continues to make art, sometimes incorporating it in his speaking engagements.

“Art communicates through symbolism and through metaphors in ways that are not spoken,” he said. “People sometimes come away with their own little aspect of interpretation, which can translate into ways that they would want to help the cause.”

Mr. Bermudez said he hopes supporters who wear the collection — which will be available exclusively for new, returning, and existing monthly donors — will carry that message with them and that people who are still incarcerated, or rebuilding their lives after exoneration, will see something else in it too.

“There’s still hope through the Innocence Project,” he said.

If you wish to begin a new monthly donation with the Innocence Project and receive your limited-edition merchandise, please follow this link. If you are a current monthly donor, please reach out to [email protected] to upgrade your current monthly gift to receive your gift.