Workshops held by Future IDs at Alcatraz and the Prison Arts Collective for the Art in Corrections conference attendees, Friday, June 28, 2019, 10am-5pm.

The program included a walking tour of Alcatraz’s prisoners of conscience and a welcome to the Future IDs at Alcatraz exhibition followed by art workshops facilitated by returned citizens and teaching artists in the Prison Arts Collective (PAC). Each workshop was led by a returned citizen and co-facilitated by a collaborative team that included PAC staff, teaching artists, and interns.

• Drawing the Human Eye, led by Stan Hunter with Jennifer Poynter, Siena Buckley. What do we learn about our own identity by allowing people to look into our eyes? Do you allow people to really look into your eyes and see your true identity?
• Alter Ego, led by Damien Aguilar with Ashley Woods, and Marissa Munoz. Giving ourselves an alter ego is giving ourselves a different identity. Participants created a pseudonym that represented themselves as artists.
• Creative Writing, led by Wendy Staggs with Sydney Burke, and Nancy Huitzl. This workshop was a reflection on how we care for ourselves. Participants gained insight into the ways that writing can support self-care, particularly for justice-impacted individuals and those working with this population. “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” –Audre Lorde, A Burst of Light, 1988
• Who am I? Star Book Reflection led by Alex Masushige with Shelly Jackson and Cait Ahearn. Participants unfolded the layers of identity through building a star book. They elaborated on their identities past, present, and future.

Co-hosted by the Art in Corrections conference, California Lawyers for the Arts and the William James Association, in collaboration with Santa Clara University and the Justice Arts Coalition.

The Prison Arts Collective (PAC) works to expand access to the transformative power of the arts through collaboration and mutual learning that supports the development of self-expression, reflection, communication, and empathy through providing multidisciplinary arts programming in correctional institutions. Founded and led by Annie Buckley, PAC currently facilitates weekly multidisciplinary arts programming on 12 yards in eight California prisons.