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Art Behind Bars is ArtSouth’s in-carceral program taking place at Everglades Correctional Institution, Florida’s first Incentivized Prison. ABB services incarcerated artists with classes, supplies, textbooks and certified instructors. ABB artists live in a one-of-a-kind 64-artist art co-op/dormitory at ECI. ABB work has been featured at professional galleries including The Wolfsonian Museum and Historic Perrine Community House. Released ECI members further their successful future in the community with the help of our partners, Re-Entry 2.0.
Art Behind Bars adopts a multidimensional approach, addressing the profound effects of humanizing incarcerated individuals so they may productively rejoin our community. As State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle recently stated when acknowledging ArtSouth’s innovative approach in averting prison recidivism, “Miami Dade’s critical justice system’s task is to assure permanent re-entry from prison into our community.”
ArtSouth’s 64-artist art dormitory opened in fall 2022 in D-Block of ECI. The dorm houses an unparalleled program in a residential studio setting where ongoing art production is sanctioned. The dorm’s innovative approach supports collective creative space as an art co-op. Dorm artists learn healthy forms of self-expression and explore creative methods to communicate. The dorm gives voice to the voiceless.
