Prison Healing Art Program

Cultural Arts Alliance Songwriter program with Caitlin Cannon

It all started when…

..I was listening to Caitlin Cannon, Nashville acclaimed singer songwriter, sing ‘Waiting’, at a fundraiser for the prison Healing Arts program, a song was about her brother who is serving a life sentence in prison. The song, and getting to know Caitlin and working with the Cultural Arts Alliance (CAA),who initiated the program and fund it, conspired to me running a weekly art class at the men’s prison, a program Bradley Copeland started in 2021, Artist of the Year in South Walton 2023.

My secret name for the course is The Trojan Art project, as I facilitate a class of up to 14 men, encouraging them to use the art they create, to look inside themselves, to find the deeper truth; engaging in that ‘inside re-design’ , finding some healing and a new way of looking at their story. This is beautifully illustrated by the Heart picture in the above panel of pictures, when Brad titled it ‘Fractured - not broken.’

The entry way is through learning about color, perspective, and working together on projects, using different art mediums and materials. Themes include Letting go, Seeing differently, and Making meaning when it seems there is none to be found.

I love my Thursdays! It is a totally different world to out here though and I describe going through the security gates as like going through a time portal; everything is different on the inside! One element of the class that the men most appreciate is the circle time - and opportunity to learn to breathe and be mindful; they and appreciate the respite and peace, and the exercises give them new ways of being and doing that they can take back to their dorms.

I have also got involved with Caitlin’s songwriter residency at Walton Correctional Institution - which is a whole other story!