Art that Liberates: Celebrating Creative Work by Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated People
Jesse White (ACG ’09) will host Art that Liberates: Celebrating Creative Work by Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated People at Pendle Hill in Wallingford, PA on Apr 13, 2019, 1:30-5:30pm.
Incarceration does more than imprison the body; it can diminish the spirit and dehumanize the person. The arts offer a practice of self-knowing, self-expression, and connection with a wider world. This program begins with a screening of Pull of Gravity, followed by brief presentations by leaders of arts organizations serving incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people. There will be a panel discussion with some prepared questions, and time for audience-generated questions as well. Join us to learn more about how organizations are creating social and spiritual change for people in the justice system through filmmaking, songwriting/music, and visual art.
About Pull of Gravity: This film offers an unprecedented portrait that brings into focus that which most viewers would prefer to ignore—the gritty details of lives cut short by poverty and drugs, where dealing dominates as the route to economic prosperity, where using offers an escape from powerlessness, and where prison is too often the next stop. Pull of Gravity's unfiltered lens captures its subjects as they lay bare their stories, fears, and tentative dreams.
The presentations and panel discussion will include:
El Sawyer and Jon Kaufman (filmmakers for Pull of Gravity) are the Co-Founders and Co-Directors of Media in Neighborhoods Group (MING), a socially conscious film company whose mission is to use the power of media to change the culture of crime. Within this organization they offer SHOOTERS, a digital media training program for the formerly incarcerated.
August Tarrier and Miles Orion Butler, Co-Founders of Songs in the Key of Free, a series of composer/musician workshops occurring at Pennsylvania prisons and correctional facilities, in which Philly musicians and songwriters and classically trained musicians from The Curtis Institute develop and celebrate the musical talent of people who are incarcerated via performance-based classes in songwriting, arranging, and musicianship.
Ann Marie Kirk (LTA '08), Co-Founder and Executive Director of Art for Justice, an organization that uses visual art to show the humanity behind bars, bring awareness to systemic flaws in the criminal justice system, and seek solutions to eliminate injustice.
For more information and to register, please visit Pendle Hill's website.
