Arts in Prisons
Introduction
Along side creating her own work Angela has been actively involved in bringing the arts to prisons since 1989. She has worked extensively both as an artist running projects in prisons and young offender institutions and as the Arts Coordinator to the Koestler Trust where she founded the Learning to Learn Through the Arts scheme. She now offers fascinating insights into the prison world and the role the Arts can play within it by means of illustrated talks and presentations. Please contact Angela for further details.
Biography
Angela's life-long interest in prisons and belief in the power of the arts to transform negative emotions led her to Long Bay Jail, Sydney in 1987 when she was just 23 years old. As a free-lance mural artist she offered her skills to the prison and ran the first of many mural-painting workshops for prisoners. Angela subsequently trained as an Artistic Therapist in England and then went to Germany where she worked full-time from 1991-97 for the Masstab Trust in Cologne. The Trust is committed to helping prisoners both in custody and upon release and became known nationally for its innovative and creative approach to the questions of rehabilitation, resettlement and prevention.
She created a thriving studio in Cologne Prison and with countless groups of prisoners painted large-scale murals and worked extensively on bringing colour to the grey prison environment. The work was widely acclaimed by prison staff and authorities as contributing enormously to the positive development of the men who participated and the general humanising of the prison atmosphere.
Learning to Learn Through the Arts
Between 2002 and 2006, Angela was the Arts Coordinator for the Koestler Trust based outside the gates of HMP Wormwood Scrubs in London. There she set up a scheme called Learning to Learn through the Arts whose aim is to address some of the blocks to learning experienced by many prisoners such as fear, negative emotions, low self-esteem and peer pressure.
The Learning to Learn scheme recognizes the differing needs of people when it comes to learning and aims to provide an alternative teaching method to the traditional classroom setting. Prisoners learn through creative, practical and supportive engagement. They learn by seeing, doing, experimenting and working as a team. In this way the classroom setting is transformed into a dynamic and interactive environment in which each individual can feel that he/she has a vital role to play within the whole.
It was always Angela’s vision to develop rolling programs of consecutive art projects at one or more prisons with the aim of integrating the arts more fully into the prison regime.
From 2004 - 06 Angela set up the Garden Project in collaboration with HMP Send prison for women in Surrey. The project consisted of five separate art projects and involved transforming part of a disused football pitch into a garden and play area for the mothers and their children. The women participated in creating mosaic seats, stepping stones and hopscotch, carved wooden posts, a labyrinth, a stone sundial and many painted sculptural features based on the themes of the four seasons, nature and wildlife. HMP Send are now developing the garden further on their own.
"One of the things that struck me was watching women who were quite content working the land, whilst being part of a group, and how this for some may have been the first time they experienced true team spirit. I recall being shown around the fantastic Labyrinth by a female prisoner and having her explain the philosophy of saying a prayer or meditation and how this process can enable hopes to be realized. This must have been and hopefully still remains something that many of those women will do in the hope that their lives will change. The garden will be a gift for the prison and many inmates for years to come and will continue to offer them a vocation which is both a cathartic and pragmatic approach to rehabilitation- the transformational healing powers of the arts!"
Susan Ashmore, CEO of Anne Peaker Centre for Arts in Criminal Justice
When Angela left the Koestler Trust in July 2006, the Learning to Learn Through the Arts scheme was adopted by the Anne Peaker Centre who, together with Angela, are developing it further.
Comments from participating prisoners
"You have helped me to strengthen my resolve to make the future bright."
"I'm now more confident dealing with prisoners and staff. My self-esteem was quite low and this course really picked me up."
"The course gave me more confidence in myself. It gave me the confidence to stand up and do something that I thought that I would not be able to do... and maybe I won't be as scared to take a chance on the outside with my new confidence."
Learning to Learn through the Arts 2001-2004
HMYOI Feltham
July 2001, 4 weeks, 4 days per week
Led by Angela Findlay, painting/colour
Inside Colours - exploring the properties and effects of colours on our thoughts, emotions and bodies and redecorating the Teal Unit accordingly with colour washes and murals.
This was the first of the Koestler Art in Prison Projects. A group of 8 young lads volunteered to take part in the 4 week long course, experimenting with colours to discover how to use them to create a desired mood in a specific room. They then went on to re-decorate the dining room, the TV rest room and the snooker room using colours, designs and murals chosen by the group and often by some of the other boys on the wing. The participants, as well as the officers, were amazed at what they achieved.
HMP Wandsworth
June - July 2003, 4 days per week
Led by Angela Findlay, painting/colour, and Adam Barley, movement/dance
Beyond Words - Using art and drama to explore different forms of communication and leading to an accreditation in Communication Key Skills Level 2
This course aimed to enhance Communication skills by combining dancing/movement with colour knowledge and painting to create non-verbal forms of communicating.
The prisoners did simple painting exercises to get to know the individual colours and what emotions and qualities they can express. Simultaneously they did movement and dancing exercises to help them overcome inhibitions and use body language more effectively.
Gradually they began to find their own interest and developed both pictures and a short performance, accompanied by a haiku, to express a theme or idea that they felt was of importance to them personally. These performances were extraordinarily powerful and each man felt a huge sense of achievement having completed it.
HMP Brixton
November - December 2003, 6 weeks, 2 days per week
Led by Alistair Lambert, sculptor
Tessellating Tiles - developing repeated motifs to create relief ceramic tiles for a number of decorative murals in the education department and visitor's waiting area.
A small group of prisoners took on the task of creating patterned relief tiles to be assembled into geometric patterns and mounted on the walls. This involved quite a production line of repetitive motifs, the final effect of which could only be fully appreciated or even envisaged when they were assembled on the walls. This demanded patience and perseverance but the end results impress all who see them.
HMP High Down
November - December 2003, 5 weeks, 4 days per week
Led by Iain Macdonald, creative writing and Matthew Meadows, print-making
The Time Between - creative writing and print-making leading to the production of an illustrated children's story book. Made by fathers for their children and leading to an OCR accreditation in Key Skills in Communication and Working Together.
One of the aims of this project was to improve links between prisoners and their family outside and to begin to rebuild the often damaged relationship with their children. This attracted fathers who wanted to create a story book for their own children. Using simple print-making techniques, recycled materials, and creative writing they produced an illustrated book that was printed out in colour so that each person had a copy to give to their children. The ideas for their stories were often inspired by the children themselves or by a favourite toy or event.
HMYOI Rochester
January - February 2004, 8 weeks, 2 days per week
Led by Emily Fuller and Helen MacKeith, Public Art and Design Partnership
Outside Art - designing, fabricating and installing a horizontal mosaic for one of the exercise yards.
This project emphasised both the importance of working as a team towards a common goal. One of the aims of our Learning to Learn projects is to teach some of the skills needed both for learning as well as those needed for creating a good piece of art. The gradual building up of something step by step, piece by piece, finally culminating in an end result requires great patience and perseverance.
These boys were amazing in their ability to work individually and as a group, and in sticking out the discomfort of the coldest days of January when installing the final piece in the exercise yard.
HMP and YOI Bullwood Hall
Jan-April 2004, 12 weeks, one day per week
Led by Bunny Schendler, animation and Debbie Humphry, photography
This is our Broken Silence - developing photo-animation, drawing and photography skills to explore the theme of Identity and Self portraiture, to produce a short animated film using computer technology. Leading in some cases to Communication Level 1 Key Skill.
Unlike the other projects this one was only once a week hence the extended length of the course. The 11 girls learnt many new artistic and photographic skills and techniques as well as gaining computing experience. The final video was far beyond anything they had thought or even imagined they were capable of doing.
HMP Belmarsh
June 2004, 4 weeks, 4 days per week
Led by Tom Hallifax, portrait painter and Hugh Dunford-Wood, painter
Face to Face and The Inner Man - a two part course dealing with portraiture and the outer appearances of people as well as exploring their inner worlds, identity and imaginations through the medium of painting.
Face to Face involved the men in looking at their physical appearance and drawing it in a variety of media. The Inner Man followed on as more of an artistic exploration of themselves and all that they are beyond their physical appearance. All the work was exhibited on the walls of the art room at the end of the project giving a real impression of total individuals despite their common outer situation.
HMYOI Reading
August - September 2004, 3 weeks, 4 days per week
Led by Will Spankie, stone carving, and Paulien Gluckman, Sculptress
Relief Stone Carving - a stone carving project in which participants created a Tudor Rose carving to be installed in the Education Department followed by a personal design to keep for themselves.
Despite the potential security hazard of having hammers and chisels, the course ran extremely smoothly thanks to the Education Department's vision, efficiency and enthusiasm. The 9 boys who participated were challenged both by the hard resistance of the stone and the sensitivity with which they had to use the tools. All of them worked towards an OCR accreditation.
At the end of this project a formal opening ceremony was arranged with food, the press and visitors and one's heart could only sing when seeing the pride on each lad's face as he received his certificate, possibly the first recognition of achievement that he had ever had.
HMP Wormwood Scrubs
June - July 2004, 5 weeks 3-4 days per week
Led by Moira McCarthy, Visual Arts and Gino Ballantyne, drawing/painting/computer skills
Tattoo Project - designing and creating large scale banners inspired by tattoos and body art, to be hung both inside the prison wings, the Chapel and other selected places
The atmosphere of any environment changes with the introduction of Art. In prisons in particular where security issues often cause cold and bleak conditions, the addition of art, colour, textures and beauty can have an uplifting and humanising effect. This is not only important for the prisoners but also for the officers who have to work long hours in the often oppressive atmosphere.
This course was originally aimed at dyslexics and totally illiterate people to help them find an enjoyable way of learning to write. This was however very difficult for the prison to organise.
The resulting banners measured on average 8' x 4' and are stunning to look at. They have been displayed on the wings, in the Chapel for the Koestler Special Event, at HMP Leyhill as part of their Marked Men exhibition and the V&A are interested in exhibiting them there too.
For more information on the Learning to Learn through the Arts scheme and the Koestler Trust see the Koestler Trust website or contact Angela. Koestler Arts Centre, 168a Du Cane Road, London W12 0TX.