MANSFIELD, Ohio—Crowds gathered at the historical Ohio State Reformatory for a weekend of tattoos and music.

It’s called the Inkcarceration Festival—because tattoos are a huge part of the event. 

“My whole body’s covered,” said Garret Beltz, of Mount Vernon.

It’s a form of self-expression— and is pretty mainstream— but people with many tattoos say they still get judged. 

“People are just jerks about it. They don’t… I don’t know, they look at you and just judge you instantly,” said Beltz.

“I don’t appreciate being judged upon just because I have tattoos. I’m not a criminal or anything like that,” said Corey Beltz, of Mount Vernon.

Garret and Corey Beltz are brothers. Together, they have about $22,000 worth of tattoos on their skin. 

“You can have tattoos and still get a pretty decent job. I mean it’s not as frowned upon as it was 20 years ago,” said Corey Beltz. 

“I think it’s getting a little better but definitely when you step out of the city, everyone’s looking at you… it’s not all negative… some people are just curious, but definitely stand apart,” said Ethan Bolger, of Columbus.

Bolger says standing apart is exactly why he gets them in the first place. 

“I mainly get them to you know like express myself and kinda stick out, you know, from everybody else, and everybody’s got a story and it’s on their skin here,” said Bolger.

Inkcarceration features tattoo artists from all over the country.  This was the second year for the event.