CSUSB Community-based Art initiative awarded 3-year contract to bring art to California prisons

The Cal State San Bernardino Community-based Art (CBA) initiative is bringing even more art programs to California state prisons after being awarded a three-year contract of more than $1.6 million with the California Arts Council.  The contract is made possible through Arts in Corrections, which is an initiative of the California Arts Council and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. CSUSB is the only institution of higher learning to receive AIC funding. 

“Facilitating arts programming in correctional institutions has been an incredibly rewarding experience that offers us the opportunity to support authentic positive change and foster transformation through the arts,” said Annie Buckley, associate professor of visual studies in the university’s art department, who founded CBA in 2013 in collaboration with students and alumni. The contract allows CBA and the Prison Arts Collective (PAC), a project of CBA, to expand its arts programming to a total of 12 California state prisons, providing support to colleagues at Fresno State to create a chapter of the work in the region, while continuing its partnership with colleagues and students at CSU Northridge for the program at California State Prison, Los Angeles County.  Teaching teams — comprised of students, alumni, faculty and volunteers — co-create multidisciplinary art curricula for classes accommodating up to 120 participants, integrating art and artists from diverse backgrounds and time periods. Incarcerated participants express themselves through the arts while also gaining life skills such as communication, collaboration, patience, problem-solving and confidence. Programming also includes arts facilitator training, which provides intensive teacher training courses to incarcerated participants and mentoring them to teach peer-led art classes.  In addition, CBA/PAC creates significant learning experiences for CSUSB students and alumni through quarterly internships, offering many alumni their first meaningful job in the art world after graduation.  As CBA/PAC outreach coordinator Danielle Yellen explained, “I cannot begin to express how grateful I am for CBA/PAC. Not only does this program create amazing jobs for those of us who have graduated, but this program has truly changed my life. It really has opened up my eyes to how powerful art can be for the community and for an individual in need.”