Prison Arts Blog
San Quentin Bands featured at SQ Music Lockdown: Sweetwater Benefit
Using video projection, three San Quentin Bands played alongside Marin County bands Beso Negro and This Old Earthquake at SQ Music Lockdown: Sweetwater Benefit in support of Prison Music & Art, Sweetwater Music Hall, February 8, 2014.  The legendary nightclub...
“God’s Trombones†at the Central California Women’s Facility, April 29, 2014
Some 300 women prisoners, a dozen prison staff, and a select group of outside visitors were given a profoundly moving and uplifting presentation of James Weldon Johnson’s “God’s Trombones†this past Tuesday evening at CCWF, Chowchilla. The power of music and...
The Last Inmate to Escape From ALCATRAZ
by Tim Fitzmaurice It began in the rather innocuous and studiously unassertive surroundings of a church hall, in Santa Cruz, the kind with folding chairs and a kitchen you can access through a narrow window. It was the Friday performance of the play “In the Kitchen...
Letter from Rico
Greetings and salutations! My warmest blessings to the reader of this letter and to the prospective listeners. I was born a heroin baby… didn’t even speak until I was 9 years old.  I grew up with what we now know as ADHD, and a side order of PTSD based upon...
Will prison arts programs make a comeback in California? Radio story on KALW
We appreciate the wonderful story about Brothers in Pen and the need for the restoration of Arts in Corrections! Reporter Kyung Jin Lee captures how important the writing group is for these guys and how it is an avenue for self-reflection and empathy, both of which...
TELLING OUR STORIES: Work from San Quentin Prison Arts Project
Alcatraz Cellblock Gallery, Alcatraz National Park, March 4- end of August, 9-6:40 Daily April 12, 2 PM: Live performance by Poetic Justice Project Telling Our Stories features the diverse and highly talented visual artists of the San Quentin Prison Arts Project,...
CALIFORNIA ARTS IN CORRECTIONS EVALUATION PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release A one-year study of inmates in four California correctional institutions revealed that arts programs improve prisoners' behavior and their attitudes about themselves. A significant majority of inmates attribute their greater confidence and...
Celebration and Solicitation
"It means a lot. I know since I started coming, I have pushed myself to finish a lot of things. I won't give up. I won't sit back and be a spectator in my life. I want to be strong and follow through." ~ participant in choral group at SF Women's Jail, singing...
2013 Accomplishments and Accolades
San Francisco Chronicle, Weekend section, “On the Line†photo and listing for SF Public Library exhibit opening, June 13, 2013, with Panel of Former Prisoner Artists. Read coverage on exhibit & panel in SAN QUENTIN NEWS, September 2013, Page 2 & also...
From the San Quentin News: WJA Promotes S.Q. Arts Project
"William James Association Promotes S.Q. Arts Project" Republished from San Quentin News -Â VOL. 2013 NO. 11 -Â November 2013 By Boston Woodard, Staff Writer The William James Association (WJA) is an organization that promotes work services in the arts, environment,...