Our Programs

What programs do we have?

East Hill Singers: The inmate chorus called the East Hill Singers meets each week to rehearse choral music and is joined once a month by volunteer singers from the Kansas City area. The group performs several times a year in the Kansas City area and elsewhere in the state of Kansas. The choral repertoire includes a broad range of classical music, show tunes, spirituals and folk music.

Being a member of a chorus helps rebuild self-esteem and teaches the rewards of working together as a community toward a common goal.

Other Music:

West Wall Singers: This chorus of maximum security inmates rehearses weekly and performs in the prison chapel.

Medium Security Singers: This chorus started up in 2007, and rehearses in the medium security area. They learn a wide variety of music.

Creative Writing: In creative writing classes, inmates discuss and are given feedback about their own fiction, nonfiction, poetry and other forms of writing. The writings are also put on display at each concert.

Drama: Through theater productions, public speaking, and playwriting, participants learn to work together, acquire presentation skills and appreciation of theater.

Art: Through Arts in Prison's painting, drawing and clay sculpture, and mixed media classes, inmates of all skill levels come together to learn about and practice the technical and creative aspects of making art.

Yoga: Yoga classes teach inmates flexibility, self-discipline, mental focus and relaxation.

Why are our programs needed?

Texts and music written from the hearts of human experience can offer inmates a way to feel that they are a part of humankind and not outcasts of society. Working with a horticulturalist or in a drama workshop can stimulate inmates to think and express themselves in new ways. Whether the inmates pick up songbooks, paintbrushes, journals, guitars or trowels, Arts in Prison, Inc. provides the creative tools they need to reconnect with the culture that has locked them away.

The United States, with less than five percent of the world population, has a quarter of the world's prisoners. State and federal prisons in the U.S. house almost 1,500,000 people. Local and county jails bring the total much higher. Add to that the number of people on parole or probation and you'll see that the number of individuals under the supervision of correctional systems in the U.S. is almost 3 million people. Two-thirds of the inmates in America's prisons and jail are locked up for nonviolent offenses. The State of Kansas houses 9,000 inmates, with 2,500 at the Lansing Correctional Facility, the facility with which Arts in Prison, Inc. is primarily involved.

Arts programs in prisons have been proven to help reduce recidivism. Overall, 95% of the inmates in prison today will eventually be released. At that point they face tremondous challenges. The arts have the power to help one reconnect with one's soul, to grow, and to heal. The learning acheived by the inmates in our program helps equip them for a more successful life on the outside.

How do we know our programs work?

We know our programs work through several feedback channels.

Here are a few comments from inmates:

• "After the experience I had with Arts in Prison, I discovered that it is possible for people to look at me as a person, not just as a criminal or an inmate. For a while I thought that was all I was, you know?"

• "It made me feel like maybe I'm not just being punished. I mean, I am being punished for what I did. But being in this program made me think that I can also come out… well, better … a better person."

• "Before I joined the East Hill Singers, I really hadn't ever been in a situation that was a positive one. Never. I can't tell you how much it meant to me to be in this program, where it is all positive. I mean, Elvera never got mad, she never got aggravated. It's a whole new experience for me."

Here is a telling comment from volunteer participant:

• "For perhaps the first time, the audience was confronted by a group of male prisoners who challenged our stereotypes about them. Here were men singing powerfully about spiritual realities who, regardless of their failures, were undeniably human along with the rest of us.
  -Frank Ward, Pastor Emeritus, Rainbow Mennonite Church, Kansas City, KS

Here are a few more success stories:

• One former inmate has donated artwork to us for use on notecards, which we use as a fundraiser. These cards won an award for excellence at the Midwest Philanthropy Conference in 2004.

• Two former inmates are currently singing in the East Hill Singers - this time as community volunteers.

Here are some results of statistical research from arts in prison programs around the country:

• Inmates who participate in arts programs in prison have fewer disciplinary incidents while incarcerated.

• Inmates who participate in arts programs in prisons have a lower rate of recidivism than inmates who don't. In other words, more of them stay out of trouble after they are released.

"Many of the men in prison will be back in the community soon. I'd rather have them as a neighbor with hope in their hearts than with hate in their eyes.
-Elvera Voth, Founder and Artistic Director of Arts in Prison, Inc.