In Prisons
Imagine Project in Prisons
In 2011 Imagine Project began a series of adult creativity workshops in prisons and halfway houses for ex offenders. These programs have served as an affirmation of our long held belief that some of the most troubled, disturbed and violent young people may often be the most gifted in terms of talent and creativity. Many of the prisoners and ex offenders we work with, whose talent for lightning fast imaginative and creative thinking become immediately apparent, have throughout their lives utilized these skills to scam, con and disrupt society.
The programs we have been offering and have refined over the past 24 years in city homeless shelters, underserved schools and other community venues, allow the gifted young people we work with to discover at an early age, the many worthy and socially beneficial outlets for their creative energies. We continue to nurture them toward a refocusing of their anger and rage, to the completion of a viable and meaningful work of art of their own creation. In so doing, it is our hope they will escape the fate of those incarcerated individuals we work with and gain invaluable insight into not only their own unlimited potential, but also how their innate artistry and creativity can have a profound and positive effect on their community ….. and beyond.
When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse,
Out of the corner of my eye.
I turned to look and it was gone
I cannot put my finger on it now.
The child is grown,
The dream is gone.
I have become comfortably numb.
– Roger Waters