PCAP News — February 2016 The PCAP Newsletter aims to keep incarcerated artists, writers, and performers informed of what the Prison Creative Arts Project (PCAP) is doing and how to be involved. If you know someone who would like to receive this newsletter, please have them write to us. (Our address is on the last page.)

The more I work with PCAP, the more I realize how hard it is for any one of us in this organization to see the full range

of things that PCAP does. In that light, I thought I would write to all of you extraordinary artists, writers, and

performers inside the walls to thank you for all that you do and to offer a glimpse of the broader scope of the many

folks who make up PCAP.

Art selection trips to all of the Lower Peninsula facilities are happening now. Many of you have already received a

visit from our curatorial team, and we will visit the remaining facilities in the next few weeks. The art we have seen

thus far is incredible!

The new issue of the Michigan Review of Prisoner

Creative Writing is at the publisher being formatted

so that it can be released along with the opening of

the art show. I had the privilege of reading the full

manuscript over the holidays, and it contains some

extraordinary writing!

Humanize the Numbers, a photography exhibit of

work by our students and men at Thumb

Correctional will be displayed in the Residential

College Gallery on the U-M campus. Our newest

professor Isaac Wingfield taught a class last

semester which facilitated this collaboration

between our students and incarcerated

photographers, and we are very proud of this first

PCAP photography exhibit!

Workshops in theatre, creative writing, and visual art have just started for the new semester at adult and youth

facilities throughout southeast Michigan, including our newest partnerships: a reentry workshop at Catholic Social

Services in Ann Arbor and a theatre workshop at the Forensic Psychiatric Center in Ypsilanti.

Twenty-two PCAP university students are learning about the history of theatre in prisons around the world in my

Theatre & Incarceration course. All students in this class facilitate theatre workshops in prisons and youth facilities

throughout the semester, and seventeen of those students will accompany me to Brazil for three weeks in May as

part of our exchange program. We partner with universities in Brazil who also offer theatre programming in

prisons, and my students and I go into the Brazilian prisons and do theatre during our travels.

My heartfelt thanks go out to all of you inside who do such remarkable work, the staff at MDOC facilities who enable

us to partner with you, and to the PCAP staff, faculty, curators, and students! A happy new year to all!

A Note from Ashley Lucas, PCAP Director

I came to prison with blood on my hands; I will leave with paint

on them by Johnnie Trice is part of the Humanize the Numbers

exhibit.

by David A. Jones, Macomb Correctional Facility A flyer went up in fall, an open call to all the artists of Macomb Correctional Facility (MRF): The PCAP art selection

curators are coming in January! The initial response was an impressive 20 men, then a last call flyer went up and 35

more men responded. We had our work cut out for us!

It was January 15th and though cold, there were six

of us programs clerks and porters who were very

warm having carried 30 plus tables and 50 plus

chairs into the gym. Ms. Visconti, MRF’s Special

Activities Director, had informed us that there

were 55 incarcerated men coming in the afternoon.

These men would need the tabletops to display

their work for the PCAP curators. In my mind, the

ideal setup would facilitate a smooth and efficient

movement for the curators to view the work. The

end result was a circle of tables lining the

perimeter of the whole basketball court. The artists

on the outside and the curators, as well as other

facility staff, would view the art from the inside.

“We got here and were surprised to find the Macomb Art Fair!” Graham Hamilton said just after we shook hands. A

handshake that briefly connected the two of us mutually acknowledging each other as people with value. A fair

exchange. There it was again, that recurring theme of exchange between the incarcerated and the free. I have

observed that it is during those times and in those spaces where that exchange occurs, that I see hope abound on

both sides. For those of us on the inside it is the hope of a meaningful and sustainable life in freedom, and for those

on the outside, a hope of reducing mass incarceration. Both intertwined with the net effect of healing and restoring

our communities.

I could see the effects of this exchange resonating in the artists’ works. There was hope where it would otherwise be

deprived in Ameliorism and the Incarcerated Man. I saw the intellectual depth of The Dance of Recidivism and

Graduation. The artists are juvenile lifers. I was also privileged to be witness to the cathartic power of creating art, as

an art tutor for the Residential Treatment Program (RTP) led by Mrs. Shields, RTP Recreation Therapist. I worked

closely with RTP artists, watching them open up and be filled wit ha sense of pride about their creations.

As the day of selection came to a close, I could see the glow of satisfaction on the face of an artist who, in his 38th

year of incarceration, has traded the life of an outlaw biker for the adventure and fulfillment of artistic expression.

“Guys look forward to this all year. For some, it’s the only thing they have gong for them,” he said as he pondered

how we could make it an all day event next year. I am grateful to the MDOC for allowing PCAP to come into these

prisons to do their important work of providing a creative outlet for incarcerated artists. Over the 26 years that I have

been incarcerated, I have watched the art exhibition grow, and though I was not able to submit any work of my own

this time, I have come away with a sense of belonging and a deeper understanding of the interaction between my

fellow incarcerated artists and the PCAP staff, faculty, and volunteers as a whole, as both recognized each other as

artists, as valued citizens, and as human beings. A fair exchange. As a fellow incarcerated artist put it, “Beautiful

people, beautiful day.” [Editor’s note: Artist names have been removed from this story to maintain their confidentiality.]

Fair Exchange

Elephant on a Tightrope by Free Ray Gray is the publicity image of

the 21st Annual Exhibition of Art by Michigan Prisoners.

PEN American Center Handbook for Writers in Prison

PEN’s Handbook for Writers in Prison features detailed guides on the art of writing fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and

screenplays—an invaluable resource for any incarcerated writer. Each year, thousands of free copies of the Handbook

for Writers in Prison are sent to incarcerated men and women who request a copy.

Send requests to:

PEN Handbook for Writers in Prison

PEN American Center

588 Broadway, Suite 303

New York, NY 10012

PEN also holds an annual prison writing contest. Submissions are accepted January 1-September 1 each year. For more

information, write to PEN Writing Awards for Prisoners at the address above.

Michigan Review of Prisoner Creative Writing

The next Michigan Review of Prisoner Creative Writing will be out this spring. Meanwhile, it’s never too early to start

sharpening those manuscripts for Volume Nine. The submission period will be July 1-September 10 each year, and

those dates will remain the same for as long as I’m editor.

Any manuscript that comes after July 1 but before September 10, to this address:

PCAP at University of Michigan

ATTN: Phil Christman

701 E. University Ave.

Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1245

...with these pieces of information included:

Your legal name (so we can communicate with you by

mail);

Your name or pen name as you’d like it to appear in the

journal, if different than your legal name;

Your DOC ID number;

Your current address;

The title of the story(ies), essay(s) or poem(s) you’re

submitting;

A short paragraph about yourself/your writing that will be

published alongside any accepted piece.

...will be eligible for consideration.

And thanks, as always.

—Phil Christman, Editor The Unknown by Jacob Mann is the cover image of

Origami Handcuff Keys: Michigan Review of Prisoner

Creative Writing, Volume Eight.

by Mark Strandquist, Cultural Organizer We need your help! Participate in the POSTCARDS FROM PRISON project! For this special project, we are sending

hundreds of blank postcards to incarcerated men and women across Michigan asking one question: IF YOU COULD

CREATE A WINDOW IN THE PRISON WALLS, WHAT WOULD YOU WANT THE WORLD TO BE ABLE TO SEE?

We are asking participants to respond to this question through art and words. We believe that people experiencing

incarceration should be able to represent their own lives, histories, and future dreams. With your participation we

believe that something as small as a postcard, can connect people across difference and distance in powerful ways.

To participate please fill out the blank postcard (through writing, illustration, etc.). On the front, visually depict the

“window” you would like to create for the world to see. On the back, describe what that window is and why you want

people to see it. Then mail it back to University of Michigan (address is printed on the postcard). Each entry will be

included in PCAP's upcoming exhibit, A Wall in Process. After the exhibit each entry will be digitized and placed in an

online archive. Thank you for your time and support!

Calendar

February

Humanize the Numbers exhibit.

(February 18-April 8)

March—April

A Wall in Process exhibit. (March 7-

April 28)

21st Annual Exhibition of Art by

Michigan Prisoners exhibit and events.

(March 23-April 6)

Michigan Review of Prisoner Creative

Writing reading, Ann Arbor. (April 3)

May

Award Winners and Selected Works

exhibit, Detroit. (May 6-28)

Michigan Review of Prisoner Creative

Writing reading, Detroit. (May 21)

Mission Statement

The Prison Creative Arts Project brings those impacted by the justice system and

the University of Michigan Community into artistic collaboration for mutual

learning and growth.

Contact Us

PCAP at University of Michigan

1801 East Quadrangle

701 E. University Ave.

Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1245

pcapinfo@umich.edu, www.prisonarts.org

PCAP Faculty

Ashley Lucas, Director

Buzz Alexander, Phil Christman, Charlie Michaels, Janie Paul, Isaac Wingfield

PCAP Staff

Graham Hamilton, Mary Heinen, Heather Martin, Vanessa Mayesky

About PCAP

Postcards from Prison Project

The Linkage Project, PCAP’s reentry arts program, offers members opportunities to connect with their creativity and

the campus community throughout the year. Activities include one-time workshops to develop creative and business

skills, a weekly creative arts workshop in Ann Arbor, a network of other PCAP artists, and invitations to join PCAP

events at the UM-Ann Arbor campus and beyond. There is no minimum participation level. The only requirement is

to register for the program each year. Members on parole are asked to clear participation with their parole agents. If

you would like to participate, please write to Vanessa Mayesky when you have a release date.

Linkage Project