ARTS & HEALING

Led by a multi-disciplinary team of experts, PPA’s new Arts & Healing program serves individuals completing their sentences at the Transition Center of St. Louis (TCSTL), a community reentry facility in North City operated by the Missouri Department of Corrections. Program components include 6 weeks of visual arts, writing, and acting workshops, a culminating public performance, and will soon include referrals for voluntary mental health counseling onsite. The program utilizes process art modalities that allow participants self-paced, hands-on learning opportunities in their pursuit of self-awareness and healing. It is designed to help participants work through the traumas associated with incarceration while building resilience, self-confidence, and creative skills as a healthy response to the stress of re-entry.

TESTIMONIAL

“We are so excited to have such an amazing new collaboration here at TCSTL. Combining art, writing, and acting is not something the residents have been exposed to until now. The teachers have engaged them since day one which resulted in the residents sharing very personal feelings right away. It was such a shock to see that happen so quickly. We are so confident that this will grow into something special, and are thankful to have the program at TCSTL."

– Karen Meyer, Unit Supervisor, Transition Center of St. Louis

THE INSTRUCTORS

Maria Ojascastro – Visual Art

John Blair – Writing

Rachel Tibbetts – Acting

FUNDERS