By Jonathan Morales

2024年1月31日

Stephen Blumberg and Rachel Clarke spend most of their working hours running 萨克拉门托 State’s School of Music and the Department of Art, respectively, ensuring their faculty have the tools and resources they need to effectively teach their students.

然而，这两位系主任每个月两次前往福尔瑟姆，与另一种类型的教育者合作：那些正在教或学习如何教其他监狱囚犯艺术课的在押人员。

“The way it becomes clear by the end of a class how much everyone has grown through the whole experience, it’s just really moving and inspiring,” Blumberg said.

他和克拉克通过监狱艺术集体（PAC）做志愿者，这是一个以圣地亚哥州立大学为基础的项目，在萨克拉门托加州州立监狱（CSP-SAC）开始实施，并改变了项目参与者的生活，萨克拉门托加州州立监狱（CSP-SAC）通常被称为新福尔森监狱。

创始人安妮·巴克利（Annie Buckley）表示，PAC是基于艺术是一项人权的原则。 该项目为加州各地的囚犯提供艺术、创意写作、戏剧和音乐课程，帮助他们培养创造力、建立信心和发展新技能。

巴克利是圣地亚哥州立大学（San Diego State University）的教授兼副院长，他于2013年创立了PAC，自那以后，PAC已扩展到与博彩平台圣贝纳迪诺分校（CSU San Bernardino）、加州保利洪堡分校（calpoly Humboldt）和现在的萨克州立大学（囊状态）的合作伙伴关系。 Its programming includes guest artist workshops, multidisciplinary arts classes, and “arts facilitator” training for incarcerated peer leaders.

“It is so meaningful to witness the transformation in those who take part in our facilitator training and apprenticeship,” Buckley notes. “Over six months, they build on their own experience and gain the knowledge and confidence to teach, cultivating creative community from within the institution.”

自2022年秋天以来，布隆伯格和克拉克自愿担任培训艺术辅导员的导师，与完成了15周函授课程的囚犯一起工作，并为监狱中的同龄人提供课程。

“Creating art is like an ongoing conversation with yourself, but it’s a gift to the world as well. Within those walls, creative expression is a path to freedom that can’t be taken away.” ——史蒂芬·布隆伯格，萨克州立音乐学院院长

During their visits, Blumberg and Clarke observe the peer facilitators’ classes, offering advice and feedback, and even do arts or writing demonstrations. 他们目前与4到5名同伴辅导员一起接受培训，这些辅导员依次教授25-30名其他参与者。

“Some of them could become teachers in the future outside of the prison, but a lot of them are doing it to give back to their own prison community and to grow as artists,” Clarke said. “To be able to help them do that for their fellow inmates is pretty incredible.”

Mark Taylor can speak firsthand to PAC’s transformative impact. 在铁伍德州立监狱服刑26年至终身监禁期间，他参加了巴克利的辅导员培训，并开始领导创意写作课程。

泰勒在监狱里花了很多时间来提高自己的教育水平，包括获得了六个副学士学位，他认为政治行动中心是一个机会，可以通过接受开发课程和领导班级的正式培训来提高自己的技能。

“The experience was amazing. 第一，只是因为加入的团队。 You could tell that they really had our best interest at heart,” he said. “I embraced an artistic side I didn’t know I had. We also built community within that group.”

作为他在PAC工作的一部分，泰勒写了他的人生故事，他说，这与他所做的其他教育和领导工作一起，导致他在2018年获释。

从那时起，他在PAC中学到的技能和自信在他的生活和事业中发挥了重要作用。 Today, he is a volunteer with the Anti Recidivism Coalition, a life coach, and Youth Outreach Coordinator at Cal Poly Humboldt’s chapter of Project Rebound. 2021年，他帮助在新月城的鹈鹕湾州立监狱启动了一个PAC项目。

“There is a lot of merit to the peer-to-peer model,” he said. “When you have someone who was incarcerated and went through Prison Arts Collective and now came home, and is facilitating the classes, it makes it easier for the student to relate to the experience that I have.”

As department chairs, Blumberg and Clarke don’t currently teach courses in their respective departments at 囊状态, so working with PAC allows them to, in a way, engage with students as they would in the classroom. 克拉克说，他们还可以示范如何成为一名教育者，在最近的一次毕业典礼上，完成了引导者培训的参与者明显体会到这一点的重要性。

“The participants spoke about what they’d learned in terms of the art, but they also spoke a lot about what their inmate colleagues – the facilitators – had taught them, and how much it meant to them,” she said. “It was an empowering revelation to the facilitators for them to hear how much their teaching was appreciated, and to fully understand how important the role of the teacher is.”

她和布隆伯格希望招募更多萨克州立大学的教师担任志愿者导师或有偿教师。 They plan to present an exhibition of the artists’ work that will showcase the participants’ creativity and humanity to a wider audience.

“Creating art is like an ongoing conversation with yourself, but it’s a gift to the world as well,” Blumberg said. “Within those walls, creative expression is a path to freedom that can’t be taken away.”

“A vibrant community has emerged around these classes,” Clarke said, “creating special bonds that improve the inmates’ quality of life, self-confidence, and sense of well-being. Our time working with Prison Arts Collective has also enriched our lives and has been a wonderful learning experience for us as well.”