The Community-based Art initiative at Cal State San Bernardino will host a book party for “Through the Wall,” a publication that includes artwork and writing by more than 100 men and women incarcerated in three California state prisons, and the teaching artists and administrators from CBA who facilitate arts programming in the prisons.
The book party will be held at the Wende Museum on Thursday, May 18, from 6-8 p.m., and is sponsored by Kid Scoop Media and the museum. The event is open to the public; the Wende Museum is at 5741 Buckingham Parkway, Suite E, in Culver City.
“Through the Wall” is based on the exhibition organized by CSUSB Community-based Art and hosted by CB1- G Gallery in Los Angeles in 2016. The exhibition included paintings, drawings, and mixed media works by nearly 100 incarcerated men and women participating in CBA’s programs at three California state prisons, California Institution for Men, the California Institution for Women, and the California State Prison, Los Angeles County in Lancaster.
The accompanying book is co-edited by Buckley and Matthew McMilon, designed by Julian Rubalcaba, and published with support from Shoreline Publishing.
It includes images of all the artwork from the exhibition as well as writings from participants, teaching artists, faculty, and correctional staff, representing a multiplicity of perspectives.
The Community-based Art initiative is supported by the California Arts Council Arts in Corrections program. The CBA, founded and directed by artist/ writer and associate professor of visual studies, Annie Buckley, is dedicated to expanding access to art to those that would not otherwise have access to it, specifically to individuals in marginalized communities including those that are incarcerated.
The Prison Arts Collective is a project of the CBA sponsored by the CSUSB Office of Research and Sponsored Programs and dedicated to facilitating weekly arts programs in local prisons and supporting collaborations between the state university and state prison systems.
The project is supported by Arts in Corrections, an initiative of the California Arts Council and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
“Through the Wall recognizes the mutual exchange of songs, words, pictures, ideas, encouragement, direction, and includes sharing, dialogue, and debate at times,” said D. Eagan a participant in the Prison Arts Collective at the California Institution for Men.
Copies of “Through the Wall” will be available for purchase at the book party. Fully 100 percent of the proceeds of book sales support the ongoing work of CBA/PAC project.
About Community-based Art Community-based Art is an approach to making, teaching, and learning art that directly engages community in the process. The Prison Arts Collective is a project of CBA supported by the Arts-in- Corrections, an initiative of the California Arts Council and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. It grows out of CBA’s work in the community and responds to a specific need for immersive arts and higher education in correctional institutions.To learn more about Community-based Art, visit the CBA/PAC website or email us at CBA@csusb.edu.
About the Wende Museum The mission of the Wende Museum is to preserve Cold War art, culture, and history from the Soviet Bloc countries, inspire a broad understanding of the period, and explore its enduring legacy. The Wende Museum collects and preserves artwork, artifacts, archives, films, and personal histories from Cold War– era Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union relating to the period 1945–1991. The museum challenges and engages the public through experimental exhibitions and interdisciplinary programming inspired by the collection. The museum's exhibition galleries are open to the public without appointment on Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; admission is free. For more information, please visit the website at www.wendemuseum.org.
About Kid Scoop Media Kid Scoop Media is an organization that puts kids where news and events happen. Standing alongside mainstream media, they have covered the White House, Pentagon and NASA for the last three years and interviewed everyone from President Obama and Vice President Biden to actor Tom Hanks and singer Sarah Maclachlan. KSY is founded and directed by Michelle Mayans. For more information about Kid Scoop Media, visit the website at www.kidscoopmedia.org.
Top photo: Work is done on a mural at the California Institute for Men in Chino as part of thePrison Arts Collective of the Community-based Art initiative at Cal State San Bernardino. Photo: Courtesy of Annie Buckley/Community-based Art