Prison Arts Blog
Celebrating 50 years!
The William James Association staff and board invite you to join us in celebrating fifty years of fostering arts, environment, education, and community development. We also celebrate 46 years of the Prison Arts Project, cultivating transformation and improving lives...
Pelican Bay UNLOCKED, Episode 4: World On Fire
Pelican Bay UNLOCKED, Episode 4: World On Fire Calls from prison are always poignant. You do what you can to dispel the distance and connect with the thin, tinny voice coming at you over institutional wires. You share lives and days and hopes and fears--even...
Art Takes Down Walls
I was a participant in WJA's Prison Arts Project (aka Arts in Corrections) for six years (2003-2009) in San Quentin Prison. That was eleven years, 2 prisons, a four-and-a-half-hour board of paroles hearing, and three years on parole ago. I am about to hit my five year...
Questions and Concerns on impact of Coronavirus 19 and Distance Learning:
Update on Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation actions on Coronavirus 19: April 8, 2020 a statewide lockdown was put in place. Limited movement population for two weeks. Important reminder to all WJA contractors. Funds for Arts in Corrections programs are...
Links in the Time of Coronavirus
CA Arts Council COVID-19 News and Resources Poets & Writers: Resources for Writers in the Time of Coronavirus COVID-19 & Freelance Artists Artist Relief Fund Grants Springboard for the Arts – Emergency Resources for Artists Emergency Resource List,...
3/19/20: CDCR COVID-19 Update: Population movement limited
Good evening, This email is sent to provide significant updates to CDCR's response to COVID-19. Please share with anybody you feel would benefit from this information. To receive these updates directly, please email me. There are currently no confirmed cases of...
CDCR COVID-19: Updated FAQs
From: Krissi Khokhobashvili, Chief of Office of External Affairs California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation March 18, 2020 Thank you all for your patience and cooperation as we work to prevent the spread of COVID-19 into our institutions. We understand...
What is Art?
Art is a mindset that is realized, an emotion that needs to be expressed, an energy that needs to be released and a spirit that needs to be calmed. Art is expressed in many different ways: Painting, drawing, sculpting, carving, singing, writing, performed, played,...
ART STRONG – Arts in Corrections at Valley State Prison
A thriving, sustaining art group has rooted itself in the Valley! This brief documentary features inmate artists and their teaching artists: Augustin Lira, Patricia Solarzano Wells, Marsha Jones, Marqus Jones, Michael McCarty, in collaboration with Fresno Arts...
Arts in Corrections on Swiss TV
Click here to watch four participants in the Creative Writing Workshop at Salinas Valley State Prison on Swiss TV