Art from the Inside MN

Since receiving the grant in early fall 2022, Art from the Inside has hosted 3 exhibitions. We hosted a month-long exhibit, titled Identity , at Creators Space in downtown St. Paul. This event was very well attended over the course of 4 weeks. Additionally, during this exhibit, we hosted 6 events at Creators Space intended to draw specific crowds to the exhibit and engage in various conversations around mass incarceration, criminal justice reform, and supporting arts programming as a therapeutic means to improve conditions of individuals incarcerated in Minnesota. These events included:
* Opening Reception
* Friends & Family Night
* DOC & Community Partners Night
* Art & Justice Night
* Art, Incarceration, & Healing Event
* Private Event with Midway Contemporary Arts
* Leadership St. Paul NightThe exhibit at Creators Space drew over 500 attendees through the course of November 2022. From November 2022 through January 2023, Art from the Insidehosted an exhibit at the US Federal Courthouse in downtown Minneapolis. This exhibit was set up in a public space for community members to observe and enjoy while they were at the courthouse. Because it the exhibit was shown in this manner, we are unable to track how many people were exposed to the art from the incarcerated artists featured. However, when this exhibit culminated with a closing reception late January 2023, it was attended by judges, lawyers, politicians, family members of artists, and community members. The third exhibit we've hosted since receiving this grant took place at Inver Hills Community College in their Gallery 120 (a gallery located on campus). Fifteen works from the larger Identityexhibit were included in at Gallery 120. The exhibit was hosted for 5 weeks and during that time Antonio Espinosa and artist and AFTI board member, Ricardo Dominguez, attended and presented at Inver Hills Community College's Student Success Day where they discussed the organization, the exhibit, and AFTI's impact on artists on the inside and the outside. Art from the Inside is now in the process of preparing for our fourth exhibit since receiving this grant. Identity Part 2will be hosted throughout April 2023 at Creators Space in downtown St. Paul. Like the fall exhibit, we plan to host a variety of events to drawn the community to the exhibit and engage with us in important dialogue about our work.
Measurable Outcome: Development of formal art/art therapy programming for the correctional facilities We are making progress with this goal of the grant, albeit slow progress. During fall 2022, we prepared a draft framework of an arts program to the MN Department of Corrections for review. We are still waiting to hear back from the DOC about whether they have feedback or if they are prepared for us to implement this program. In the meantime, we have identified someone who we hope will work with us to write the curriculum and serve as a co-facilitator with Antonio Espinosa once the curriculum is written and ready for delivery. We have also met with several other artists/art educators who we hope to hire to facilitate specific components of the arts programming. Measurable Outcome: Mural Project Planned Art from the Inside has had 5 meetings with DOC employees from MCF-Lino Lakes. These include a cross section of staff who represent different parts of the facility (including an associate warden, an Education Director, the facility chaplain, a program director, a case manager, and security staff). Additionally, we have met with Public Functionary and several BIPOC artists represented by the organization. Throughout these meetings, we have defined what type of mural will be eventually installed at MCF-Lino Lakes in their youth offender living unit. We are working with Public Functionary to determine which artists will work with the incarcerated youth and artists to plan, prepare for, an implement the mural. Our goal is to have the mural installed summer 2023. When meeting with the DOC staff, we also discussed future mural projects, most notably a mobilemural that will start at one facility and move throughout facilities in the DOC.; Outcome 1: Host 6 exhibitions in the community We hosted 4 month-long exhibitions in the community (Creators Space Nov 2022, Federal Courthouse Jan 2023, Creators Space April 2023, Unity Church Oct 2023), participated in 2 major community events Grand Old Days and Selby Jazz Festival), and presented at and shared art work at two conferences Juvenile Justice Reform Conference May 2023 & Beyond Bars Conference March 2023). Between these 8 separate events, we reached and exposed our artists to thousands of people.
Outcome 2: Development of formal art/art therapy programming in the correctional facilities We met with local artists and art instructors, an art therapist, and a leading expert in art/art therapy programs in correctional settings. All of these meetings, along with conducting research, enabled us to prepare a draft art program that we hope to propose to the MN Department of Corrections and eventually implement upon their approval. We did propose our art program to Dakota County Jails; however, they were not able to commit to the program due to lack of funding.
Outcome 3: Complete a mural project We spent an extensive amount of time meeting with various representatives at the MN Department of Corrections to research, organize, plan, and implement the mural project. We met with them over a dozen times between September 2022 and May 2023. We also met with BIPOC artists from the community who were committed to this project and who went to great lengths to prepare for the project (including accessing/visiting the Lino Lakes Correctional Facility where the mural would ultimately be completed). Despite many hours of planning for implementation, the DOC ultimately could not commit to the project. They backed out. During the summer of 2023, Dakota County Jails approached us about partnering to do a mural project. Again, like we did with the MN Department of Corrections, we met with them and did extensive research, planning, and preparation for implementation. Like the MN DOC, they eventually backed out citing lack of funding/resources. During an exhibit we hosted in October, we had participants attending the exhibit engage in a painting activity that will culminate in a traveling mural . We are in the midst of working with the MN Department of Corrections to determine which correctional facilities this mural can be displayed at and work through the logistics of getting it installed.
Also, as we were unable to get the mural project completed during the grant period, we worked with documentary artists to create films that could go inside the prisons so that our artists could experience the power of their platform in the community and show each other the power of art to heal.