Arts Behind Bars is ArtSouth’s in-carceral program taking place at Everglades Correctional Institution. ABB services incarcerated artists with classes, supplies, textbooks and certified instructors. ABB artists live in a one-of-a-kind 64-man art co-op/dormitory at ECI. ABB work has been featured at professional galleries including, The Wolfsonian 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.
ArtSouth’s “Arts Behind Bars” program is an unprecedented comprehensive visual arts program located inside Everglades Correctional Institute, Florida’s first Incentivized Prison. Arts Behind Bars adopts a multidimensional approach, addressing the profound effects of humanizing incarcerated individuals so they may productively re-join 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.”
Art Expressions is the name identifying a 62-person art dormitory that opened fall 2022 in D-Block of ECI. The dorm houses an unparalleled program assembling 60 artists 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.
The Wolfsonian/ArtSouth prison art show.
