Art Behind Bars

ART BEHIND BARS is a documentary that follows the journeys of three formerly incarcerated artists who use their prison-inspired art to challenge society's view on mass incarceration, proving that creativity can heal and transform lives in the face of a broken U.S. prison system.

Mass incarceration in the U.S. is unmatched in the world and is historically unprecedented. Disproportionately, the criminal legal system acts against people from racialized populations and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. But inside prisons, people find imaginative ways to survive. Prison arts programming helps incarcerated men and women demonstrate to themselves and to the public that they should not be defined solely by the act that brought them to prison. It is this capacity of art to inspire hope, empathy and positive change that helps other people see the incarcerated artist as capable of redemption.

ART BEHIND BARS will be a tool for advocacy, particularly within marginalized communities, with a strong emphasis on supporting women and people of color in championing creativity as a powerful tool for transformation and rehabilitation. Ultimately, I hope to encourage public conversations around policing, punishment, and the systemic racial and class inequalities that permeate the criminal legal system with the characters in the film: Leonard Jefferson, a Rhode Island-based spoken word and visual artist; Ivy Mathis, the first woman lifer who was released on parole in Louisiana and a member of The Graduates, a performing arts group of formerly incarcerated women from the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women (LCIW); and BL Shirelle, a female rapper/poet and co-executive director of Freer Records, the first nonprofit record label for formerly and incarcerated musicians in the U.S. and through their art, we will see how they can influence the public narrative around mass incarceration.