Jose Joey Reyes comes to the WJA via the cultural arts sector where he worked for over ten years as a program director and curator. His experience consists of donor development, museum education, volunteer management, program and exhibition development, and youth mentorship. His prior curatorial work approached issues ranging from the effects of climate change on communities of color to housing rights and immigration. He holds a BFA in pictorial studies from San Jose State University with two years of additional study at Syracuse University. As Prison Arts Program Director, Joey hopes to affirm founder Eloise Smith’s vision to provide individuals with the most meaningful art experience possible and to uphold the values of Dignity, Mutual Respect, Determination, Healing, and Redemption for every program participant

Breann Beal, Administrative Assistant, has held many roles at the William James Association since 2006. She first served as a VISTA program arts instructor for at-risk high school students, then became the event coordinator and curator for a major WJA anniversary art auction. After receiving her B.A. from UCSC in fine art, she provided graphic design, marketing, and community outreach services as a contractor. Now on staff, she coordinates artists and vendors and manages a number of projects. With a background in printmaking and performance, she appreciates the WJA underlying creative spirit, and she works to maintain the strong reputation for service in the arts and community development that this non-profit has earned for over 40 years.

Steven Emrick, Prison Arts Specialist, has over thirty years of providing Arts Programming as an Artist Facilitator at three different state prisons and in the Youth Authority. He recently retired as the Community resources manager at San Quentin State Prison where he coordinated over 50 different self-help programs and managed over 2,000 volunteers and guest visitors annually. In 2009 Steven received a Heroes of Compassion from the Dalai Lama for his work providing arts programming to incarcerated populations. He has an MA from Central Washington State University in Wood Design and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture and Furniture design from San Diego State University.

Henry Edward Frank, Communications Director, is a member of the Pomo and Yurok Nations, an artist, a block printer, a creative writer, a poet, a photographer, and a returned citizen.At nineteen he was sentenced to 29 years to Life in the State of California prison system. He was paroled in 2013, at age thirty-nine. Art has always been in his life. During his incarceration, he participated in Arts in Corrections where he was first introduced to the William James Association and to block printing, bookbinding, creative writing, color theory, and more. For three years, Henry served as a clerk to the Artist Facilitator, assisting with proposals, memos, accounting, inventory, scheduling, art and food sales, concert and event production, and participant relations and conflict resolution.

Henry Robinett is a guitarist and composer living in Sacramento, Ca. He has released 7 albums under his own name and has three more in the can. His latest Jazz Standards Vol 2 Then Again, reached #10 on the prestigious JazzWeek chart. He has taught jazz at the University of the Pacific and The American Institute of Music in Vienna, Austria. Henry’s father was the first cousin of jazz great Charles Mingus. Henry lived with him briefly where he met luminaries such as Joni Mitchell, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman, Dizzy Gillespie, and Woody Shaw. For the last 30 years, Henry has been teaching music in the California prison system. He believes in giving back.

Rachel O’Malley Ph.D is a Professor of Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. O’Malley’s research interests include Insect Ecology, Conservation & Restoration; Environmental Justice & Impact Assessment; International & California Coastal Sustainable Agriculture. O’Malley also maintains a working relationship with the Center for Agroecology at UC Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, and is an advisor for Master of Science students in research on conserving pollinators, reducing farm runoff, and understanding pest/enemy dynamics in farm fields in Santa Cruz and Santa Clara Counties, California. Internationally, O’Malley supervises students working on the ecological impacts of banana production, shrimp farming, cacao, and cattle production in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Colombia, respectively, and runs the sustainable agriculture garden on Campus at San Jose State University, San Jose, CA. O’Malley serves on boards of a range of local nonprofit organizations, government commissions, and political organizations.

Jack Bowers is a pianist, performing musician, songwriter/composer and arts administrator. For twenty-five years he directed the Arts in Corrections program at Soledad State Prison, which involved hundreds of inmates in weekly fine arts activities, ranging from creative writing classes to music theory to luthiery. Currently, in addition to performing, teaching, and recording in the Santa Cruz area, he is an active advocate for arts programming for prisoners and at-risk youth through the William James Association.  For the past seven years he has been a mentor for artists teaching in California prisons.

Jose Antonio Aguirre has received national and international awards, including the Fulbright-Garcia Robles awarded by the United States State Department and the Cultural Exchange International grant from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs to produce a community public art project in Mexico. Aguirre has been a teacher and Artist-In-Residence in various institutions, and given several lectures and workshops at universities, museums and cultural institutions around in Germany, Mexico, Scotland and the United States. He obtained a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (1982) and an MFA from California Institute of the Arts (1990). Since 1976 he has lived and worked in Chicago, Austin, Los Angeles, Mexico City and Colima City, currently resides and works in Pasadena, California.

William “Bill” Cleveland is a pioneer in the cultural community development movement and one of its most poetic documenters. His books Art in Other Places and Making Exact Change and Art and Upheaval, are considered seminal works in the field. Organizer, teacher, researcher, and musician, he also directs the Center for the Study of Art and Community. The Center works to integrate the arts and community life, focusing on, the development of cultural partnerships, and training for artists, and their community, and business partners. Bill has also led the Walker Art Center’s Education. Department (1995-97). California’s Arts-In-Corrections Program (1981-1989), and the California State Summer School for the Arts (1989-1991). His most recent book Between Grace and Fear: The Role of the Arts in a Time of Change written with Patricia Shifferd was published in 2012. His CD, SongLines, based, in part, on stories from Art and Upheaval, was released in 2014.

Wayne D. Cook is a proud retiree from the California Arts Council, where he was Program Manager of the Artists in School’s Program and the ADA/504 Disability Coordinator. Retirement hasn’t slowed Mr. Cook down, as he continues to consult for the William James Association and Arts in Correction at Solano Prison. He continues working with the Educational Department for the Sacramento Theatre Company (STC) and prior to the pandemic, continued to act in such productions as, To Kill A Mockingbird at STC, The Iceman Cometh for the Actor’s Theatre of Sacramento and only a few years ago received the Elly award for acting in Learning Spanish at the Wilkerson Theatre. Mr. Cook is the author of a drama curriculum, Center Stage, A curriculum for the Performing Arts. First published in the ninety, you can still purchase Center Stage on Amazon.

Margaret Elysia Garcia is the author of the short story collection Graft published by Tolsun Books in 2022 and the author of the poetry chapbook Burn Scars chronicling living through the Dixie Fire in 2021. Her poetry collection the daughterland poems was released in May 2013 by El Martillo Press. She’s the co-editor of Red Flag Warning: Northern Californians Living with Fire, published by MK Press. Her work has been featured in the Akashic Noir Series Santa Cruz Noir, PM Press’ All of Me: Stories of Love, Anger and the Female Body, on Upworthy, and Juked, Catamaran Literary Reader, among other spaces. She teaches poetry with the Community Literary Initiative of Los Angeles.

Wesley Haye, is a Vietnam-era combat veteran who served with the 82nd Airborne Division. He is committed to assisting other veterans and aims to assist them in finding their way out of the dark. He has first hand experience with the many struggles veterans go through, including homelessness and prison. But he believes that with the opportunity to live as a community, veterans can raise each others self-esteem and sense of self-worth. He is the founder of Wesley Haye Enterprise, LLC, which is dedicated to assisting veterans with finding affordable housing options in Monterey County, California.

Of Mexican descent, Felix Lucero is a Returning Resident, husband, father, sheet metalist, and visual artist specializing in block printing. His museum-quality prints have been featured in prestigious collections, including the Library of Congress. In addition to his visual art, Felix is a prolific writer and a self-taught guitarist. With his life established, Felix now asks, “How can I give back?”

Grateful for his experience with the Arts in Corrections, Felix is committed to ensuring that the William James Association (WJA) continues to thrive for future generations. As a board member and alumni advisor, he offers invaluable insight into current and formerly incarcerated individuals’ struggles, challenges, and needs. Felix is ready to serve and passionate about actively contributing to the WJA’s future growth and impact.

Nigel Sanders-Self is a theater, film and multimedia producer/ director. He has been a member of the board for over thirty years and has directed and performed in productions in institutions including Vacaville, Soledad and San Quentin. He is the recipient of three California Art Council grants. He created a relationship between the University of California Shakespeare Santa Cruz touring both Romeo and Juliet and Midsummer Nights Dream in prisons throughout California. Nigel is dedicated to Arts programs in prison that reduce recidivism and promote human rights for incarcerated individuals. He has been influential in recruiting and establishing artists in prisons, in theater, visual arts, creative writing, and music. He was appointed to the board by founding members Page and Eloise Smith.

Ginny Oshiro believes that public health is the vehicle to transform carceral systems. She brings lived experience as a formerly incarcerated person and has worked closely with organizations that serve currently and formerly incarcerated populations. Ginny has experience as a researcher studying the transformative power of the arts in prisons and as a policy advocate in the criminal legal reform landscape. She is currently pursuing her doctoral degree at the University of Southern California, driven by the belief that research has served as a catalyst for meaningful reforms within the criminal legal system. Previously, Ginny was a Robert Wood Johnson National Health Policy Research Scholar and is an alumna of the Solis Policy Institute and Project Rebound. She is deeply committed to leveraging research and policy to drive systemic change within the criminal legal system.

goshiro@sdsu.edu

Gabriel Singer was incarcerated for 16 of a 21-year sentence. Through this, he found a deep commitment to art and supporting individuals who have experienced incarceration. He spent many hours in his cell dedicated towards honing his crafts and exploring new techniques he learned due to his incarceration. He was hired while in prison to join a group of incarcerated people to paint murals in the prison gym. Upon his release, Gabriel started attending San Francisco State University through Project Rebound and majored in Criminal Justice and minored in Prison Reentry Services. In the Fall Semester (2024), Gabriel curated an art show during Project Rebound’s Mural Celebration called “Our Love is Stronger Than Their Walls,” which analyzed the experience of having a relationship during one’s incarceration through art. This led him to get an internship at William James Association through the California Lawyers for the Arts program called Designing Creative Futures. This experience has led Gabe to want to assist other artists like himself to find a pathway to be a professional in the art world. He is excited to join the William James Association Alumni Artist Committee and bring his experiences to help support formerly incarcerated and incarcerated artists alike.

wendycstaggs@gmail.com

watani.stiner@gmail.com

Tony Wallin-Sato is the Prison Education Coordinator for Project Rebound CSULB and a lecturer in the CRGS department at Cal Poly Humboldt. He is also the founder of the Project Rebound chapter at Cal Poly Humboldt and the Co-Chair board member for the Boundless Freedom Project and the advisory board member for the American Prison Newspaper Project. He consults on a wide range of juvenile justice education committees and facilitates mindfulness, creative writing, education and career workshops inside adult and juvenile facilities. He earned his MFA from CSULB and has nearly 4 dozen poems, essays, stories, and long form journalism articles published in a wide range of publications. His first book, Bamboo on the Tracks, was awarded the Robert Creeley Award by John Yau, and his second book, Okaerinasai, is forthcoming this October from Wet Cement Press.

tww22@humboldt.edu