Gary Harrell Artist Spotlight
Gary Harrell is a JAC network artist, formerly incarcerated artist, and co-founder of Shower Works, a non-profit based in California which aims to bring free, warm showers to the unhoused community of Sacramento, CA. Recently, JAC got the chance to speak with Gary about his work, art, and life experience. Continue reading to learn more …
Introducing JAC’s New Logo
Community. Creativity. Support. These were the three words most used by Justice Arts Coalition (JAC) team members when asked to describe JAC’s personality. And it was these three words which guided the process of redesigning JAC’s logo from start to finish. Many revisions were made throughout this process, but at the heart of each was …
Artist (Collaboration) Spotlight: Spoon Jackson and SaraMarie Bottaro
By Clare Walker, JAC Intern Recently, JAC had the opportunity to talk with JAC network artist Spoon Jackson and artist SaraMarie Bottaro. Over the past year, the two artists have formed a friendship and collaborative partnership despite the physical distance that exists between them. The following is an artist spotlight conducted in conversation with each …
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“Correctional: A Memoir” by Ravi Shankar
By Clare Walker, JAC Intern In February 2022 JAC had the opportunity to talk with Dr. Ravi Shankar, professor, author, and pushcart award winning poet, about his newly released book Correctional, A Memoir. Dr. Shankar discussed his experiences leading up to the release of his memoir, along with what inspired him to put pen to …
Day in the Life of a JAC Intern: Jesse’s Monday
By JAC Intern, Jesse DiMeglio “But like what do you do? Like what’s your actual job?” This is the typical response I get when I talk to people about my work with JAC. I’ve been interning with JAC since October 2021. If I were to describe that time in one phrase, I would say it …
Continue reading Day in the Life of a JAC Intern: Jesse’s Monday
Teaching Artist Spotlight: André de Quadros
By Clare Walker, JAC Intern Recently JAC had the chance to speak with Dr André de Quadros, human rights activist, music educator, artist, and ethnomusicologist, who has conducted and undertaken research in over forty countries. His professional work has taken him to the most diverse settings, spanning professional ensembles, and projects with prisons, psychosocial rehabilitation, …
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Hours Into Being a Refugee Due to Covid
Guest Contributor: Dorothy Maraglino Hours Into Being a Refugee Due to Covid Hours into being an inmate refugee due to the mismanagement of Covid by CDCR. Around noon we were notified that we would need to relocate. To relocate we were given several clear trash bags to put all of our possessions in. Over the …
Artist Spotlight: Cuong Mike Tran
By Clare Walker, JAC Intern Mike Tran has been dabbling in art and drawing his surroundings since childhood. At an early age he “cursed a dream that was imposed on [him].” His talent, he says, was acknowledged but never encouraged. As the years passed, school and work began to take priority and art was put …
Artist Spotlights
- Angelica Marie Soto
- Will Livingston
- Gary Harrell
- Spoon Jackson and SaraMarie Bottaro
- Cuong Mike Tran
- Chris Schulze
- Harold Johnson
- Charles Finney
- Lex
- SNAPP
- Troy Glover
- Brian Hindson
- Nhut Vo
- Daniel Martinez
- Derrick Grantley
- Reginald Dwayne Betts
- Jeremiah Murphy
- William Brown
- O.G. Blue
- David Green
- Kenny Collins
- Gary Farlow
- Chad Merrill
- Izuo-Ere Digifa
- Marcus Pettiford
- Kenneth Reams
- Jordan (Jordy) and Joshua (Josh) Earls
- John Zenc
- Cedar Annenkov
- Amber Daniel
Teaching Artist / Program Spotlights
- Kirk Charlton
- Rachel Wallis
- Brian Daldorph
- André de Quadros
- Rowan Renee
- Ann Bracken
- Zoe Boekbinder: Prison Music Project
- Nate Fish: Brick of Gold
- A.B.O. Comix
- Joel Bergner
- Gabriel Ross
- Judy Dworin
- Annie Buckley
- William Head on Stage (WHoS)
- Anderson Smith
- Elia Cadilla
- Sarah Dahnke and Sarah Pope
- Lori Pitts
- Matt Malyon
- Peggy Rambach
- Hakim Bellamy
JAC Community Blogs
- JAC’s 2022 Wrapped
- Day in the Life of a JAC Intern: Jesse’s Monday
- JAC’s 2021 Wrapped
- Steve Davis and Chad Merrill pARTner Project Collaboration
- Day in the Life of a JAC Intern: Joslyn’s Monday
- Community Voices Blog: Staff Art Picks
- JAC’s 2020 Wrapped
- I am From…
- Coronavirus in Prison
- Collaborative Imaginings: the work of Lori Lovely and Kelly Pringle
Guest Blogs
- Leo Cardez – Mr. Crew Cut: An Angel Among Monsters
- Obie Weathers – Pieces
- Dorothy Maraglino – Hours Into Being a Refugee Due to Covid
- Marcus Pettiford – Captivity Without Sunlight
- Conor Broderick – The Challenges of Pursuing Higher Education in Prison
- Dorothy Maraglino –Prison Society
- Dorothy Maraglino – A New Approach to Crime Prevention
- Dorothy Maraglino – Homesick in Prison
- Dorothy Maraglino – A Day in My Box
- Joshua Earls
- Naomi Rachel: The Amazing Nash News
- Chris Trigg
- Annie Buckley: Lines Drawn and Erased
- Annie Buckley: Final Projects
- Annie Buckley: Art and Healing
- Annie Buckley: Oasis in the Desert
- John Zenc: The Boy Who Only Wanted to be Loved
- Chris Trigg: Creativity
- Denise Shumway: The Ohio Prison Arts Connection (OPAC)
- Jameelah Lewis
- Chris Trigg: The Other America
- Ronald McKeithen
- Marcus Pettiford
- R. Zumar: The Becomings of a Master: Canyon Run
- R. Zumar: The Becomings of A Master: Abstract
- Chris Trigg on the state of the arts in federal prisons
- Janie Paul: What we can learn about isolation from prison artists
- R. Zumar: The Becomings of A Master: The Portrait Series #3
- Carole Alden and Arlene Tucker: A Message from Translation is Dialogue
- R. Zumar: The Becomings of A Master: The Portrait Studies #1
- Annabel Manning: My Block.
- Spoon Jackson: To My Big Sis, Judith Tannenbaum, from Spoon Jackson
- Jeremy Sobek: Beginnings
- Guy La”Tron” Banks, a.k.a Tronee Threat
- Mark Andreason: Who is Mark Andreason?
- R. Zumar: The Becomings of a Master, Part 3: Hiatus
- Jennifer E. Tinker: A guest’s reflections on the Iron Cages exhibition
- Michelle Repiso: Oculus: Of A Place Unseen
- R. Zumar: The Becomings of a Master, Part 2: Bohemia
- Treacy Ziegler: Kindness, boundaries, and the border patrol
- Matt Malyon: The Stories We Save May Include Our Own
- Dr. Kevin Shorner-Johnson: Building Musical Imaginations
- R. Zumar: The Becomings of a Master
- Danny Ashton: Not a Prison Artist
- Cynthia Garcia: Hillside High Art Students reach out to incarcerated artist with Artist Trading Cards and motivational messages
- Caitlin Hamilton: Kudos For Memoir About Teaching the Arts in a California Men’s Prison
- John Whitman: copyright empowerment for incarcerated people
- Treacy Ziegler: The Slippery Slope of Kindness
- Tomás: Becoming Whole: the Joy of Creation
- Peggy Rambach: “We, the Unbound”
- Rosie Worster: Remember Me
- Treacy Zeigler: Kindness as Hostage
- Mardie Swartz: As the End Comes (a tribute to Alice Walker)
- Treacy Ziegler: The Incarceration of Kindness – Installment 1
- Mary Cohen: Communities of Caring through Choral Singing: an update from the Oakdale Prison Choir
- Page Dukes: Making Meaning: a caged bird sings
- Treacy Ziegler: Crossing the Border: An artist’s experience of a super-maximum security prison
Events, Exhibitions, and Publications
- Sean White’s The River is a Lake
- The Book of Judith
- “Correctional: A Memoir” by Ravi Shankar
- Inside & Out Exhibition Spotlight: Karim Shuquem, Lesley Rae Burdick, and Edee Allynnah
- Inside & Out Exhibition Spotlight: Sandra Miller and Cherie Hacker
- Inside & Out Exhibition Spotlight: David Potwin, Aimee Wissman, and Mary Anna Pomonis
- White Snake Projects: Virtual Opera
- Inside & Out Exhibition Spotlight: Michelle Repiso and Treacy Ziegler
- Celebrating PCAP’s 25th Annual Exhibition
- Inside & Out Musical Launch: Spotlight on Artists BL Shirelle and King Moosa
- Kenneth Reams: Workshop and Art Auction
- Mural Arts Philadelphia’s “Rendering Justice” Exhibition: Spotlight on Featured Artist Michelle Daniel Jones
- “The BOX” Virtual Performance: A Play About Solitary Confinement by Sarah Shourd
- Book Launch – Words After Dark: A Lyrics, Lit & Liquor Anthology
- Upcoming Exhibition: “Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration”
- Upcoming “Art Of Innocence” Event
- Virtual Event 6/27: Refueling for Justice feat. “Art as Release” JAC Artist Panel!
- Workshop Spotlight: A Conversation From Death Row with Kenneth Reams
- The Prison Story Project
- Create + Connect Online Workshop Series!
- Just Art Initiative
- Celebrating a successful opening night…and a video launch!
- Please join us in DC to celebrate the opening of our first exhibition!
- REDEMPTION SONGS: A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A COMMUNITY PRISON CHOIR – Book Release
- Conference Announcement: Reframing the Landscape of Justice
Announcements / Statements
- Introducing JAC’s New Logo
- Announcing JAC’s New Gallery of the Month Series
- JAC needs your support!
- Art Connects Us
- Announcing the launch of the JAC Community Survey!
- An important message from PAC’s manager — please read on!
Reflections from JAC’s Founding Director in Response to Anti-Asian Violence