incarcerated art

It’s All in the Details

by redclay | Jul 20, 2023 | Creative Writing, Non-fiction

By Charles Hall, John Parker, and Moika Nduku

Arlington County Detention Facility, July 17, 2023

As part of our creative writing series, our writing teacher Alexa Fleming emphasized the importance of details. For this writing exercise, she told them, center on the importance of employing details in everyday life — how these elements add interest, color, and context; make conversation accurate and interesting; and are imperative in improving memory and focus. Memory and focus, she added, are the two components that are backbones of success.

Just look at the level of detail in their essays:

Charles Hall

John Parker

Moika Nduku

Jailhouse Rock

by redclay | Jul 20, 2023 | Singing

July 2023: It’s a little known secret, but our singing teacher Bharati Soman and our executive director lead a karaoke night at the Alexandria Detention Center every summer evening on Wednesdays. We began on June 7 and end on August 30. It’s been quite an adventure, and we didn’t expect such a positive response. (I say “we” loosely. Bharati does the work and I, the ED, sing loudly and badly). A few of the guys show up faithfully and have really become comfortable singing and soloing. A few sang in high school choirs and it shows. They still have the pipes! I imagine them telling their story to Simon Cowell when they are released one day. City

We can’t take our phones inside and record our amazing singers, so we’re posing in front of the gate. Bharati is on the left, holding her all-important pitch pipe and I’m on the right.

Gratitude Amid Chaos

by redclay | May 1, 2023 | Visual Arts

April 25, 2023, Arlington County Detention Facility (ACDF): Our art teacher Sharmila Karamchandani ran into some unplanned chaos today and yet she and the women in the general population of the ACDF still found plenty to be grateful for. Here’s a shortened version of Sharmila’s story:

In the middle of chaos can you still find some gratitude? Before we started the workshop there was an incident with one of the inmates and we got delayed in starting our workshop which, to begin with, we had very little time for art. Now in a matter of 40 minutes, I had to explain the project, hear what they had to say, and also it was the last day with this unit I also had to get their evaluations for the program.

The project I had prepared was for them to make a gratitude tree. Most of them were still anxious and a bit shaken up by the incident and one of them was unable to draw at first as they were still trembling and here I go telling them to be grateful. Trust me, I too wouldn’t be able to pull out much if I was in their shoes. But these ladies are super resilient, they took all the instructions in and finished the project, shared with a loving heart as if nothing had happened just half an hour ago, and found so many things to be grateful for.

I ask them how they felt after the project. One of them who previously was anxious and unable to draw, genuinely thanked me saying “Thank you your project really helped me calm down and I no longer feel any anxiety”. And that’s the power of Art!!

Super Superpowers!

by redclay | Apr 24, 2023 | Visual Arts

April 18, 2023: We’re just happy to be back at the Arlington County Detention Facility after three years of virtual – or no – classes! We knew Sharmila and her gentle art would be the perfect way to segue in with the general population. She wrote that she “…tasked [them] to create an entity that had special powers that was much needed in our world today…I am always amazed at what people create for this particular project. It’s so thoughtful…We had some very interesting conversations.

Quiz: Match the description with the superpower:

Healing fly, a butterfly who senses any suffering and ailments with her special antennas anywhere in the world and can heal the person of any ailments they may have.
Mother Earth, our ultimate super hero. With her powers of endurance and creation the woman needs to be honored as she is the source of all that exists.
Blossom, who makes flowers and people blossom and bloom with her special powers.
Guppy, who loves to give group hugs. She likes peace, harmony and love to spread with her special hugs.
Food Man, who feeds the hungry and the homeless. His never ending faucet will provide you with any liquids be it juices or sodas. His side kick furnace can whip up any dish from any country for any amount of people.
Rainbot, who has shower powers. She can do her special robotic rain dance and make it rain wherever and whenever needed, and can bless you with prosthetic limbs if you don’t have them (the creator’s friend lost a limb because of diabetes, hence Rainbot).