Prisons and Art
Building Affective Solidarity: Visual and Performing Arts Interactions, Elaborations, and Interventions in a Prison Context
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Julia Listengarten, Keri Watson
How do you negotiate the constraints of the prison-industrial complex to provide arts programming and promote agency in a prison setting? Although the United States comprises only 5% of the world’s population, it houses more than 20% of its prisoners, and since 1978, Florida’s prison population has increased over 1000%. In response to decreased state and federal funding for prison programs, faculty at the University of Central Florida founded the Florida Prison Education Project to provide educational opportunities to those incarcerated, research the societal benefits of prison education, and integrate the study of justice into the University’s curriculum. This paper discusses the issues involved in a recent project during which faculty and students from UCF’s Schools of Visual and Performing Arts collaborated with incarcerated men to write and perform an adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear. Inspired by performance studies scholar James Thomson’s assertion that “the aesthetics of care seeks to locate community-based performance practice in the connections made between participants and within art making process,” we endeavored to give voice to the feelings of entrapment experienced by incarcerated people and illustrate the significance of relationality and interdependency to our non-incarcerated students. Touching on themes including mobility and stasis, discipline and power, and faith and survival, this interdisciplinary project demonstrates the affective role of the visual and performing arts in society and explores the ethics of adaptation and representation in a prison context.
Creative Freedom: Prison Art Is Innovative, Therapeutic and Controversial
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Ruth Massingill
From Australia to Finland, from the UK to the US, from Russia to Guantanamo, prison arts programs have inspired creative works by prisoners of all ages and backgrounds. Although many prisoners have low levels of literacy, they can still be active in arts programs. From traditional painting and sculpting to inventive constructions using ‘found’ materials, prison artists express their "inner thoughts, fears and regrets." Numerous studies report significant therapeutic and educational benefits from such programs. Inmates involved in arts programs demonstrate positive results in mood improvement, anger management and group behavior. Additionally, statistics suggest prison artists, who learn skills such as self-reflection, self-discipline and communication, have lower recidivism rates. Despite this history of prison art programs playing a positive role in rehabilitation, criminal justice scholars note a philosophical contradiction: "Prison is punitive, but creative activities are very rewarding. Prison is intended to strip power and deliver pain; art empowers and delivers happiness." Also, many people see art programs as "luxuries" prisoners do not deserve. Over the years, prison arts programs have created bridges to the outside world by displaying prisoner art in public venues. As a result, prison art became popular with collectors and some artists received proceeds from sales of their work. This led to widespread controversy about prisoners profiting from their crimes, and in some cases, to laws prohibiting sales of prison art. This presentation explores the world of prison art, providing examples and comments from prison artists around the globe, and examining controversies surrounding the topic.
