Del Norte Association for Cultural Awareness will hang the Sixth aAnnual Arts in Corrections exhibit, entitled “Art from the Inside VI,” on Jan. 14 at the Del Norte County Courthouse, located at 450 H St. in Crescent City. The exhibit will remain on display through March 3.The exhibit, part of DNACA’s Art in Public Places program, will feature artworks created in visual arts workshops held at Pelican Bay State Prison. Varying experience levels and techniques will be on display in this exhibit.The AiC program provides arts workshops inside all 33 California state prisons, in visual, literary, media and performing arts, as well as cultural, folk and traditional arts. Since 2013, the California Arts Council has administered the AiC program in partnership with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. It is the nation’s only state-run prison arts program.#placement_573654_0_i{width:100%;max-width:550px;margin:0 auto;}var rnd = window.rnd || Math.floor(Math.random()*10e6);var pid573654 = window.pid573654 || rnd;var plc573654 = window.plc573654 || 0;var abkw = window.abkw || '';var absrc = 'https://ads.empowerlocal.co/adserve/;ID=181918;size=0x0;setID=573654;type=js;sw='+screen.width+';sh='+screen.height+';spr='+window.devicePixelRatio+';kw='+abkw+';pid='+pid573654+';place='+(plc573654++)+';rnd='+rnd+';click=CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER';var _absrc = absrc.split("type=js"); absrc = _absrc[0] + 'type=js;referrer=' + encodeURIComponent(document.location.href) + _absrc[1];document.write('');The goal of the program is to reduce recidivism, as well as prevent violence in prisons, by providing transformative arts experiences in nontraditional settings. Locally, DNACA has partnered with the William James Association since 2014 to help bring art workshops to PBSP for this purpose.“I continue to be inspired by the experience of walking into a grey and dreary prison, through the clanking gates, past the racially segregated groupings on the yard and into the art studio where there is color and life, camaraderie, creativity and hope,” said William James Association Executive Director Laurie Brooks.With COVID-19 halting all in-person visitation at the prison in 2020, AiC coordinating organizations worked toward finding new ways to continue providing arts programming.“At PBSP, with support from Community Partnerships Staff and CDCR officials, we were able to provide arts instruction via correspondence courses,” says teaching artist July McNiel, who leads visual arts workshops at the prison. “Hundreds of AiC participants inside have continued their arts practice and study through this correspondence since it began in June 2020.”The William James Association believes participation in the program and in the artistic process helps incarcerated individuals learn self-discipline and problem solving that translates to other parts of an individual’s life. This translates to individuals being useful and valued members of the community.Brooks agrees study of the arts can and should be an integral part of the rehabilitative process.“It is a profound experience to watch a program participant change from a person with nothing to lose to an artist with something to give,” she said.DNACA’s Art in Public Places program presents art exhibits that promote local artists and imported artists of all ages, cultural backgrounds and all arts media by displaying their works in a prominent public place in order to raise the arts awareness of the community. The exhibits are currently on display at the Del Norte Court House, and at the Crescent City Airport. Exhibits rotate regularly.DNACA is funded in part by the California Arts Council, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Learn more at www.arts.ca.gov.For information, visit www.dnaca.net, call 707-464-1336 or email office@dnaca.net. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('ad-1515727'); });