The Prison Creative Arts Project: 2023 Video Documentary

With this project, we have taken the creative writing of PVCC students who are incarcerated and interpreted it through open-to-the-public stage performances so that these students’ unique experiences, ideas, and feelings can, for the first time ever, be accessible to a wider audience. Traditionally the truth about the day-to-day lives of those in prison is, like the inmates themselves, walled off and inaccessible: intentionally hidden from view. By taking the writing of incarcerated PVCC students and interpreting it on stage, our intention is to break through this wall of silence and bring people together.    
This way of exhibiting and making accessible through movement on stage the interior world and creativity of those who are traditionally not seen and not heard results in a vibrant, transforming experience for members of the audience. Our ambitious goal is nothing short of changing people’s lives—all people—not only the lives of the incarcerated whose voices are being heard, whose truth is being told, for the first time ever, but also the lives of audience members who are learning about experiences that up to this point have been hidden away and inaccessible. Our hope is that these boundary-crossing stage performances, bringing together the creativity and talents of PVCC student writers, student performers, and faculty as well as community-based artists, will delight and inspire those who view the performances available here in video format.