Auburn's Prison Arts Program

[BZ770 2]

http://wireeagle.auburn.edu/news/429

burn University prison arts program to expand services, fund pilot project with NEA grant

10:05 AM, August 6, 2008

AUBURN - The Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project, an outreach program in Auburn University’s College of Liberal Arts, has received a grant of $14,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts to teach art, photography and creative writing in Alabama’s prisons.

Project director Kyes Stevens said the grant will support additional educational programs and materials in correctional facilities and will fund a pilot project with Space One Eleven, a non-profit community arts organization in Birmingham, to offer studio instruction for both previous participants and those now participating in community corrections in Birmingham.

The Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project, housed since early 2008 in Auburn’s Department of Psychology, has enabled more than 900 prisoners over the last six years to learn poetry, creative writing, drawing, multi-media art and photography.

Stevens said that all the major studies by the Department of Justice and other nationally recognized research organizations have shown that the more education someone has while they are incarcerated, the less likely the person is to return to prison.

“I would say there is at least one person in every class who undergoes a huge transformation,” Stevens said. “Our program is very much hinged upon art in education. That’s the driving force: We want people to believe they can learn.”

The NEA grant, one of five grants the project has received since the spring, will help fund new art classes, pay for supplies and provide compensation for artists and scholars who teach the courses. Stevens said that federal grants are particularly rewarding because recipients are selected from a national pool of applicants.

“We would like to develop some more painting classes, possibly pastel and pottery,” Stevens said. “We have a prison that has a ceramics shop and they have kilns. If we can get potter wheels, then we can have a pottery class. It takes more funds to get art classes like that going because art supplies are extraordinarily expensive.”

Other grants include $8,500 from the Alabama Humanities Foundation; $6,080 from the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham; $6,000 from the Alabama Arts Car Tag; and $3,000 from the Alabama Civil Justice Foundation.

“Under Kyes’ leadership, this program has flourished and continues to provide a significant and meaningful service to the community,” said College of Liberal Arts dean Anne-Katrin Gramberg. “We are thankful for Kyes’ outstanding dedication and grateful to the funding agencies for recognizing what a valuable program this is. These grants ensure that even more will be done to introduce education and humanities to those who appreciate and need them.”

The program publishes an annual anthology of the photos, drawings, paintings, photos and essays prisoners produce in their classes. Other projects have included “Art on the Inside,” an exhibit hosted by Space One Eleven. Next spring, the program will hold evening classes at the studio for program participants who have been released from prison. Stevens said such offerings dovetail with what the Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project and the Department of Corrections each hope to achieve - rehabilitation through education.

“Everyone has an ability inside of them to create and communicate,” Stevens said. “Somebody has to open the door for them.”

For more information about the Prison Arts + Education Project, go to

http://media.cla.auburn.edu/apaep/index.cfm or call (334) 844-8946.

They just raised tuition from 2600 to 2900 a semester, I know this money comes from a different source but jeez when did going to jail become a visit to the country club. This really pisses me off. I do donate to the University, but come on.

[AU_tiger_2000 0]

As an engineer I would have to say that I find pretty much anything to do with art at a university to be a waste of money.

[Grider 1]

If the money comes from a different source than your university donations then why the problem? Your gripe is with the NEftA.

I don't care if prisoners are getting to finger paint. Their life is not easy nor "a trip to the country club". You want to burst your bubble on that watch Lockup on MSNBC when they are doing a visit to an Alabama prison. I'm all for them to be out on the side of the road picking up trash and busting rocks, but I don't see the harm in them getting to paint little fluffy clouds if it keeps them from going to the next level of crime when they get out.

[AUBURNJAC 53]

If the money comes from a different source than your university donations then why the problem? Your gripe is with the NEftA.

I don't care if prisoners are getting to finger paint. Their life is not easy nor "a trip to the country club". You want to burst your bubble on that watch Lockup on MSNBC when they are doing a visit to an Alabama prison. I'm all for them to be out on the side of the road picking up trash and busting rocks, but I don't see the harm in them getting to paint little fluffy clouds if it keeps them from going to the next level of crime when they get out.

I agree! As long as it's not tax payer funded (and I still might agree on some level) then what's the problem? Some of these people in prisons have never been taught ANYTHING worth a damn, and probably most have NEVER had a hobby. I'm for this type of rehabilitation.

[HuntsvilleTiger 0]

If the money comes from a different source than your university donations then why the problem? Your gripe is with the NEftA.

I don't care if prisoners are getting to finger paint. Their life is not easy nor "a trip to the country club". You want to burst your bubble on that watch Lockup on MSNBC when they are doing a visit to an Alabama prison. I'm all for them to be out on the side of the road picking up trash and busting rocks, but I don't see the harm in them getting to paint little fluffy clouds if it keeps them from going to the next level of crime when they get out.

I agree! As long as it's not tax payer funded (and I still might agree on some level) then what's the problem? Some of these people in prisons have never been taught ANYTHING worth a damn, and probably most have NEVER had a hobby. I'm for this type of rehabilitation.

Where do you think the National Endowment for the Arts gets its money?????

Not saying I don't think we should spend "some" money on the Arts because I love museums as much as anyone...

[WarEagle007 1]

You guys do realize that music, specifically marching band, is an art as well right? No funding for the arts takes away your marching band. We aren't funded by the athletic dept.

[tiger88 934]

Guys lets try to look at this objectively. This program may already be working wonders. The first beautiful works are now surfacing.

This is a masterpiece by Tyrone Green:

Dark and lonely on the summer night.

Kill my landlord, kill my landlord.

Watchdog barking - Do he bite?

Kill my landlord, kill my landlord.

Slip in his window,

Break his neck!

Then his house

I start to wreck!

Got no reason --

What the heck!

Kill my landlord, kill my landlord.

C-I-L-L ...

My land - lord ...

Let's give this a chance.

[AU_tiger_2000 0]

You guys do realize that music, specifically marching band, is an art as well right? No funding for the arts takes away your marching band. We aren't funded by the athletic dept.

I don't think you want my answer to that.

[Grider 1]

Guys lets try to look at this objectively. This program may already be working wonders. The first beautiful works are now surfacing.

This is a masterpiece by Tyrone Green:

Dark and lonely on the summer night.

Kill my landlord, kill my landlord.

Watchdog barking - Do he bite?

Kill my landlord, kill my landlord.

Slip in his window,

Break his neck!

Then his house

I start to wreck!

Got no reason --

What the heck!

Kill my landlord, kill my landlord.

C-I-L-L ...

My land - lord ...

Let's give this a chance.

Wonder if he gets the ASCAP rights when its made into the next rap ditty by 50...