Bodies are incarcerated everywhere, in many ways – in jails, illness, war zones, dangerous neighborhoods, dangerous families – with emotional, psychological, intellectual, physical, and spiritual effects on the individuals incarcerated. What role do the arts play when bodies – people – are incarcerated?
Can engagement with the arts help undo some of the effects of incarceration? Can the arts help the unincarcerated (or less incarcerated) view the more incarcerated differently, help us think more clearly or compassionately about types of incarceration, and effects? How might incarceration affect the art-making of the incarcerated – both process and product?
Join us for an unforgettable evening of performance, exhibition, and conversation about these and other questions with three consummate artist/activists who have worked with the variously incarcerated for decades.
William (Buzz) Alexander – U-M Professor of English, is Founder and Director of the Prison Creative Arts Project, which has engaged thousands of Michigan prisoners in writing and the plastic arts since 1990. For more information
Jon Deak – Associate Principal Bassist with the New York Philharmonic since 1973 and a prominent composer of contemporary chamber pieces, Jon Deak also commits himself to helping students in New York's most troubled schools express themselves through musical composition. Read an interview with Jon Deak about the N.Y. Philharmonic's Young Composer's Program Listen to Jon Deak talk with NPR about the Philharmonic's trip to North Korea
Janie Paul – U-M Professor of Art & Design and Social Work, Janie Paul has dedicated much of her life to bringing art-making opportunities to adolescents and adults in Michigan's prisons, and to underserved students in the Detroit Public Schools. For more information