“Art Behind Bars + Art AFTER Bars” will host a closing party on Friday, August 28th, from 5-7 p.m. for its show presently on display at FKCC Library. The exhibition includes recent artwork from inmates at Monroe County Detention Center, and work from former Art Behind Bars students pursuing their own creative endeavors as part of their personal recovery. This will be an opportunity to acquire remarkable works of original art at very reasonable prices, as well as meet some the former students of the program who have used their new-found skills in artmaking to help with their own personal transformations following release from jail.

2008 was a year of milestones for Art Behind Bars. In Spring ‘08, they celebrated the 1,000th class led by ABB founder Lynne Vantriglia, and the college graduation of former student Candy Mense. Mense graduated from FKCC with honors in addiction relapse prevention. With Lynne’s coaching, in addition to graduating from college, Candy has been awarded three grants from the prestigious Anne McKee awards. Lynne points out that she herself has been the recipient of three Anne McKee Artist Fund grants, the first of which helped to launch Art Behind Bars in 1995. In November of last year, the program celebrated its “14th Birthday Party” at the Pier House Resort. Both Lynne and Candy had artwork in this year’s Anne McKee Artist Fund annual show at East Martello Tower.

This year, the program has contributed artwork to 32 non-profit organizations in the community, and has now donated artwork valued at $192,000 to 402 groups since it started on its mission of “artbased community service for inmates” in 1994. Recent highlights include a mixed-media still life in hand-painted silk for AIDS-Help’s annual fundraiser, and hand-painted flag t-shirts for Hospice/VNA’s annual “4th of July” picnic. Hospice is especially dear to the hearts of many in the community, including Vantriglia, who this year became a client of Hospice during the passing of Ernie, her husband and
partner of 35 years [and co-founder of Art Behind Bars]. These are trying times for all non-profits in the community. Art Behind Bars has seen the state of Florida eliminate all Art in Education programs, which had previously supported the twice-weekly classes at Monroe County Detention Center. Now more than ever, the community needs to know that programs for incarcerated people can help lower recidivism, defined as the tendency of people who’ve been released from jail or prison to relapse into previous criminal behavior. By lowering recidivism, substantial savings can be realized by not having to re-incarcerate the same people over and over again. The benefits of artmaking specifically have been recognized as a key program in redirecting
inmate behavior into more positive paths. According to Dr. Rachel Williams, Ph.D., a nationally-recognized expert in the field of inmate artwork and official evaluator for Art Behind Bars, the national rate of recidivism is 62%, but for those inmates
who are exposed to artmaking while incarcerated, the rate plummets to 27%. With an inmate population exceeding 2.1 million people, and the cost of confinement averaging $78 per day, the benefits accrue very quickly when former inmates don’t return to prison upon release. The intangible benefits to individuals, families, and communities can’t be stated in mere dollars.

For more information on programs and recidivism, check Dr. Williams’ book, Teaching the Arts behind Bars available on www.amazon.com