Innerbeat - Art Behind Bars

InnerBEAT

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behind bars

FO R E WO R D In February 2008, the Pew Research Center released an alarming report on the current levels of incarceration in the United States. The report, titled “One in 100: Behind Bars in America, 2008” indicates that not only is one in one hundred U.S adults currently in prison but how the impact on specific communities is even more severe. For example, one in nine African American males aged 20 to 34 are incarcerated, and large percentages of young Latino and Native American men are also found behind bars. Pew’s March 2009 follow-up revealed that one in thirty-one Americans- over five million people- are on probation or parole at a given time. The United States now leads the world in its incarcerated population: 2,245,189. What could any art program bring to the recognition of this stark and grim reality?

Inside you will find the result of several years of dialog and research on incarceration and culture in America, a process that resulted in the building blocks of Innerbeat. We are an organization that is dedicated to using our strengths as an arts organization and as artists, to shed light on the ways imprisonment manifests and reverberates in our society.

We dare to challenge conventional schools of thought – between ‘inside’ and ‘outside’, between ‘professional’ and ‘amateur’, between institution and society – and bring a marginalized culture to light.

Arts Education + Criminal Justice The idea of ‘art behind bars’ seems unlikely to some. If we at all associate art making with the spark of the creative impulse it would seem unlikely to find it behind bars. Creativity within a prison is as much a potentiality as within any other population. The artistic output of the physically and spiritually restrained, achieved entirely against the grain of circumstances, produces both a vivid collection of works and an admirable proof of the tenacity of the human urge for expression.

“Captivity stimulates creativity because the mind seeks the freedom denied to the body.”

Gyles Brendreth

Ana Cuadra

Founder & Executive Director

(Source: Prison/Culture; City Lights Foundation)

who

we

are

Innerbeat is a 501(c)(3) public, non-profit organization that strives to provide a productive, creative environment in juvenile correctional facilities. Through participation in the arts we help build on selfesteem, deal with emotions of abuse and addiction, and approach the future with a productive plan.

Our Mission is to help the institutionalized youth reenter society in better emotional and mental shape than when they were first imprisoned. Our Goal is to support the difficult transition back into society from juvenile detention centers and promote healthy alternatives to incarcerations. We do this by believing in the power of individuals to change, and by changing hearts, minds and habits through education and creativity. Innerbeat advocates for the creation of a fair, humane and truly rehabilitative correctional system.

All photos are taken from the National Geographic Show Hard Times. All information is taken from Prison Culture - a book published by City Lights Foundation in partnership with SFSU and Intersection for the Arts to shed light on prison culture.

prison

culture

The United States is the world’s largest warden with over 2 million of its citizens behind bars. Three decades of growth in America’s prison population has quietly shoved the nation across a sobering threshold: for the first time, more than one in every 100 adults is now confined inside an American jail or prison. Prison costs are blowing holes in state budgets and barely making a dent in recidivism rates and failing to have a clear impact on overall crime.

Studies have shown that the super-incarceration of America has had a negligible impact on lowering the overall crime rate. A majority of new inmates are either non-violent offenders (including parolees flunking mandatory urinalysis) or the mentally ill (a staggering 28,000 by official estimate). Almost 1,000 new prisons have been “It is sobering to recall... that a built during the past twenty years, with California trading, young black man in Los Angeles literally brick by brick, higher education institutional funds or Oakland is twice as likely to to continue to build prisons. end up in prison than in college.” It is sobering to recall that the California Department of Corrections, with twenty-nine major “campuses,” are more expensive to manage than the University of California system. The sad reality is that a young black man in Los Angeles or Oakland is twice as likely to end up in prison then in college.

As a nation, the United States has long anchored its punishment policy in bricks and mortar. The tangibility of a jail or prison, with its reliable incapacitation of convicts, has been an undeniable weapon of choice in our never-ending battle against crime. Recent studies show, however, that a continual increase in our reliance on incarceration will pay declining dividends in crime prevention.

Meaning that expanding prisons will accomplish less and cost more. The national inmate count marches onward and upward, and with one in 100 adults looking out at this country from behind an expensive wall of bars; the potential of new approaches and solutions cannot be ignored any longer.

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“

THE DEGREE OF CIVILIZATION IN A SOCIETY CAN BE JUDGED

BY ENTERING ITS PRISONS.” Fyodor Dostoevsky

the

program

The program is designed to improve the quality of juvenile detention centers for both inmates and staff, as well as to encourage better institution-community relations through community service art projects and concert and theatre series. We aim to reform broken juvenile behaviors that are fostered in these dark environments.

The Philosophy of the Program: Art Is a Verb Not a Noun Above all else, art, and therefore the Innerbeat program, is about one thing: the art of the work itself. Innerbeat’s individual art programs are diverse enough to appeal to different interests and emphasize different facets of the world and our human relationship to it. Art is not its objects; art is how we are when making it (and eventually, we would hope, how we are as a result of making it). The objects of the craft are by-products of the way we work, acting as invisible glue that cements people together through production and expression.

Our aim is not to do art, but rather what happens because of the art we do.

music Music can give voice to deep complex feelings in a new and unconventional way. In supplying musical instruments and educational programs to these youths, this workshop produces events outside the prison that raises funds for the organization as well as overall awareness for juvenile reform issues and solutions.

creative writing It has been said the pen is mightier than the sword. Deeply rooted in the belief of the restorative and rehabilitative power of writing, this workshop seeks to provide a place for inmates to express themselves freely with pen and paper, and to encourage the use of the written word. The program sponsors annual writing contests, provides free publishing, and one-on-one mentoring to inmates seeking to advance their literary skills.

v i s u a l arts More than just an opportunity to be expressive, this workshop focuses on teaching valuable skills such as logic, organizational teamwork and patience. Art works produced are sold through the organizations distribution channels, bridging the gap and opening the conversation between the artists and the outside world.

performing arts Meant to inspire intellectual curiosity and personal development, this workshop nurtures the discipline, teamwork and communication skills necessary for successful reentry into society.

We host events and performances to encourage connection with the community at large.

gardening As a part of their community involvement, this workshop gives incarcerated youth the opportunity to grow and maintain a vegetable and herb garden. The harvest produced will be sold at a local farmer’s market, connecting the inmates with the local agrarian economy and teaching them basic business skills.

yoga

In teaching the Hindu philosophy of attaining health and happiness through simplistic life principals, this workshop covers a variety of meditation and breathing exercises, ultimately aiming to alleviate tension and nurture a calm environment within the detention centers. .

arts

education

California is failing its children.

Once a youth enters the juvenile correctional system, not many of them have the chance of leaving it with their lives turned around.

California is failing its taxpayers.

This is a very expensive system with little to show for it. Prisons are costing more and accomplishing less then they have in the past.

Every time a youth enters the juvenile correctional system and does not come out rehabilitated is an opportunity lost. Innerbeat exist to make sure we do not lose this opportunity. Good research has revealed Art Education programs like ours and others similar are effective at reducing future criminal behavior. An impressive and growing body of work shows that we are learning more and more about how to make real changes in young people’s lives. If we expect more from these kids, we need to give them the tools, so with their own means they can have a fighting chance.

This is not a solution. This is a step.

This is a step towards reforming how we punish our children by giving them a chance to rise above their worst moment. This is a step towards nurturing our troubled youth before they become repeat offenders. This is a step towards investing in our society and hoping we too, can rise above our worst moment.

testimonial Hakim Walker was first incarcerated at the age of 15. He lost his father to the prison system many years ago, and his older brother followed the same path. It is no surprise that thereafter Hakim was recruited by a gang in South San Francisco. They offered him comfort and protection, something any young boy needs. They also offered him drugs and weapons and convinced him the only way to survive on the streets was to ‘make a man of oneself’ by killing and stealing for your family. From that moment on, the streets would be his home and the gang his family. It was just a matter of time before he would be arrested. First for burglary and then for armed robbery, a serious felony. Hakim was sent to N.A Chaderijian Youth Correctional Facility in Stockton.

Described as the home for the worst-of-the-worst juvenile offenders; this is one of two maximum-security prisons for juveniles in California.

Hakim had been serving time for 3 years before he joined the Innerbeat program. At first hesitant, as most participants are, he joined because he had nothing else to do.

Hakim later confessed that he had always been interested in drawing, but it was just never available to him. It was not long before Hakim started to realize the benefits of the program and the relationships he was cultivating with fellow inmates because of it.

“I was less angry when I left the workshops, and during the time in between I would think of the new things I would make in art class. It helped me keep my mind off the bad things, and in Chad (nickname for N.A Chaderijian Youth Correctional Facility) there are a lot of bad things.”

Hakim completed the program, receiving a certificate in Performance and Visual Arts.

Upon his release in winter of 2010, Hakim moved in with his Aunt in San Mateo.

He now works at a framing shop and has been able to keep a steady job for over 6 months. Taking advantage of his job, he frames his own pieces of artwork he continues to create in his spare time. He recently participated in the Innerbeat Annual Gala and Exhibition, where he sold two of his pieces. Hakim also volunteers with theatre-based organizations that perform in assisted and elderly housing once a month.

“Innerbeat made me feel human again. Its like the whole world tries to forget we exist, but here were these people telling me I can do stuff, and be someone. It really helped me look inside and tell myself that I am better than this prison.”

JOIN OUR CAUSE Interested in receiving invitations to our fundraising and annual events?

Want to join our cause through donations and advocacy?

Want to learn more about who we are and what we do?

Visit our website at: www.innerbeat.org or call (305) 342 . 2435 You can also visit our offices at: 316 Castro St. San Francisco, CA 94114