Kindness as Hostage

by Treacy Ziegler  (This is the second installment on kindness in prison.  The first installment can be read at Incarceration of Kindness.) On my first trip to the super-maximum security prison, I see a high stonewall building perched over distant trees. There is something surreal in the sight of this fortress-like building with its small …

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Crossing the Border: An artist’s experience of a super-maximum security prison

by Treacy Ziegler As a landscape painter, I explore the interior and exterior configurations of space. In my own painted landscapes, boundaries between interior and exterior are porous and the line between landscape and dwelling is fluid; the sea does not stop at the door—it comes in. If prisons are defined by how space is …

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Sports or Arts?

by Treacy Ziegler About the guest contributor: Treacy Ziegler is a regular contributor to the PAC blog, and has been an exhibiting artist for the past 23 years. She studied painting and printmaking for four years at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. As a student she was awarded a J. Henry Scheidt Traveling Scholarship. Before …

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Piercing the wall: An invitation through letters on art

Coming soon: The pARTner Project -- a collaboration between PAC and Prisoner Express which will provide an opportunity for artists and individuals with a working interest in the arts to develop friendships with artists in prison through letter correspondence and the exchange of creative works. In her newest blog, Treacy Ziegler reflects on her 8 years of experience directing distance-learning art programs for people in prison, and the relationships developed through this exchange.

Seeking input on building a national prison arts association

Dear friends of The Prison Arts Coalition: Building upon a new level of cultural awareness regarding the benefits of arts in corrections programs, we would like to know if an expanded national organization would be a valuable asset to you and the work you do. In these early stages, we feel the association could offer …

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