by Melissa Wang, JAC Intern “I started reading poetry in a cell in solitary confinement,” writes Reginald Dwayne Betts to the Justice Arts Coalition. Now an award-winning poet and Ph.D candidate in Law at Yale Law School, Betts began his poetic practice in prison. As a sixteen-year-old, Betts was sentenced to nine years in prison …
Category: formerly incarcerated artist
Beginnings
by Jeremy Sobek I remember how I felt the first time I knew I was going to be an artist, I was in fourth grade, my teacher's name was Mr. D. It was Halloween and the entire class was making paper plate masks as part of a contest. I had no cares for the contest, …
Making Meaning: a caged bird sings
by Page Dukes I was released from prison last May, after serving ten years for a crime I committed as a heroin-addicted teenager. I have spoken publicly many times since, about the decisions and circumstances that led me to the criminal justice system. However, at the Art for Justice Forum held at Emory University Law …
The 2018 New York Art for Justice Forum at Columbia University
by Philip Hall In 2018, the creation and discussion of art is widely acknowledged as a vehicle for social justice. Years ago, such a concept would have been largely ignored. Current tightened state budgets, plummeting crime rates, as well as an examination of mass incarceration, is prompting the investigation and support of art as a …
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Charlie Ghost
by Chelsea Garner-Ferris I first met Charlie on a humid, London summer's day in June 2016. A true mountain of a man he was tall, broad, and covered from shaven head-to-toe in elaborate tattoos. We were meeting for the very first time to begin our Mentor/Mentee relationship at a crowded museum café, amidst crowds of …
