As a student in the Art & Social Justice class at Cal State Fullerton, Jasmine Solei had the opportunity to visit the California Institute for Women in Chino, where she and other students led art workshops for incarcerated women.
Taught by Mary Anna Pomonis, assistant professor in the Department of Visual Arts, the Art & Social Justice course tasks students with creating lesson plans centered around social justice and then teaching those courses in alternative venues to groups outside the university.
Solei was leaving the prison after the first workshop during the Spring 2023 semester and was struck by the sight of a children’s playground boxed in behind barbed-wired fences situated adjacent to the visitation area.
As a mother herself, Solei thought about her own son, Kayden, who was 2 years old at the time.
“I just thought to myself that I can’t even imagine what it would be like to have to go through that, not only as the parent but as the child to have to visit your parent behind bars,” Solei said. “And it dawned upon me that there are parents in here that are separated from their kids.”
This manner of interaction between parents and their children ignited a spark of inspiration in Solei, who went on to create a more expansive art program using art as a medium for incarcerated women to bond with their children and family members.
Solei recently completed a series of monthly art workshops inside the women’s prison in Chino in which the inmates and their children got to create artwork together.
She titled the program: “Creative Healing for Forgotten Families.”
“Every time, we’ve had a great turnout at the prison,” Soleil said. “There’s always been lots of kids and families, so I’ve been able to bring arts and crafts to them.”
When the workshop was completed, Solei curated an exhibition featuring the artwork titled “Caged Voices: Artistic Reflections on Mass Incarceration.”
The exhibition is currently on display on…
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