Latest news with #RehabilitationThroughtheArts
Globe and Mail
10-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Globe and Mail
Creative Hope Studios Expands Mission to Adult Corrections, Transforming Lives Through Music
Crowley, Colorado - March 10th, 2025 - Creative Hope Studios, established in 2021 to provide arts-based rehabilitation programs for youth in the juvenile justice system, is proud to announce its expansion into adult corrections. The organization has transformed a former correctional counselor's office on the second tier of Pod 6, the honor unit at Crowley Correctional Facility in Crowley County, Colorado, into a state-of-the-art recording studio and career exploration space for inmates. This initiative is a collaboration with CoreCivic, the largest for-profit prison company in the United States. Recognizing the potential of innovative rehabilitation programs, CoreCivic has invested in culturally relevant, nontraditional programming like that offered by Creative Hope Studios to aid in the rehabilitation process. The impact of arts-based rehabilitation programs is well-documented. For instance, Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA), operating in New York State prisons, has demonstrated that participants in arts programs have a recidivism rate of less than 3%, compared to the national average of over 60%. Since its inception, Creative Hope Studios has garnered support from notable figures such as best-selling author, speaker, and former LA kingpin Freeway Rick Ross, actor and legendary rapper ICE-T, and country rock superstar Jelly Roll. Their endorsements highlight the transformative power of arts in rehabilitation. Warden Guy Bosh of Crowley Correctional Facility expressed his support, stating, "Creative Hope Studios has been an inspiration and a lift to the men who live here. The studio is more than equipment; it's a testament to your work and the transformation of lives at this facility. This will have generational changes to so many, and I am grateful to be witness to Creative Hope Studios." Creative Hope Studios currently operates over 50 recording studio programs in juvenile prisons and treatment programs across the country and is excited about offering creative recording opportunities in adult corrections. The organization is committed to partnering with forward-thinking leaders in adult corrections who are open to change. By providing inmates with opportunities to engage in music production and career exploration, Creative Hope Studios aims to reduce recidivism and promote positive reintegration into society. For more information about Creative Hope Studios and its programs, please visit About Creative Hope Studios Creative Hope Studios is dedicated to bringing hope and opportunity through the arts to individuals within the justice system. Founded in 2021, the organization initially focused on youth in the juvenile justice system and has since expanded to serve adults in correctional facilities. Through innovative programs in music and the arts, Creative Hope Studios aims to transform lives and communities. Media Contact: TJ Griffin Co-Founder 717-587-2923 Tj@ Media Contact Company Name: Creative Hope Studios Contact Person: TJ Griffin Email: Send Email Country: United States Website:
The Guardian
25-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
The play that changed my life: Sing Sing's Clarence Maclin on lessons from Sophocles in prison
When I came to the Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) theatre at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in 1995, I'd been sentenced to 17 years for robbery. It was not my intention to watch a play. They were doing One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I saw my brother Dino who was playing Big Chief, the Native American guy. I knew Dino from elsewhere in the jail, but not for this. I got involved. I found a fascination for Shakespeare that I really didn't expect. I didn't think I'd understand the language. And I didn't at first. But it fascinated me enough to research and study it: I loved becoming able to translate that so that others could feel the intensity of it. After being restricted to just watching for a year, I went on to play so many roles. I played a nobleman's ghost who comes back to haunt Richard III. That was a fun role; minimal lines, but a ton of expression. Twelve Angry Men was another good one. The most poignant role in my life, though, would be Oedipus Rex. Because Oedipus ran from a prediction and then right into the consequences of that prediction. That was kind of parallel to my life, because I realised that I had been running away from and straight back into the same issues. I learned that about myself while doing Sophocles. There's a freedom that comes with being on stage. As a prisoner locked in a six-by-nine, or a Black man in society, your liberty is limited to certain things. The connection that I got from the stage came from not only playing those characters but also researching how they lived. Those were the times that I realised that I wasn't even in prison any more. I was freer than the guards. I went to Greece in my imagination. I went everywhere. I was freer than most men on the planet because I was able to go anywhere I wanted to, become anyone I wanted. All of these lives that might parallel some things in my own life – or might not. Maybe something completely different, you know? Most nights, it was my peers, my brothers, coming to see me. But on the last night of every production, we invited playwrights, directors, producers from Broadway. Politicians would come, and Harry Belafonte came, which thrilled my mother. Something that related to a current event or issue was always laid down somewhere in the play. So we began working on the messages that we wanted to send to the other side of the wall through art – including our own play Breakin' the Mummy's Code, which provides the structure for the movie Sing Sing and in which I play a version of myself. The RTA company changed as new people came and others went home or got transferred to other prisons. But the core stayed the same and we created a steering committee who were elected by the group and were charged with the day-to-day functions and keeping the integrity of the programme up to standard. Fortunately, I never got transferred. When I came home in 2012, I had six more classes to get my bachelor's. I was working and I was going to school at night to complete my degree in behavioural science. All while I was still on parole. Then I had to either graduate with the guys that I was going to college with on the outside or return to Sing Sing and walk the stage with RTA. I chose to go back. The six classes weren't really the struggle. That's the moral root – we want to keep brothers hopeful on the inside that change is possible. The Oscar stuff [Sing Sing is nominated for three Academy Awards) is hopeful on a personal level, of course, and people inside get to see that we can reach the highest echelons if we so choose. But it's easy to just treat it as this trendy thing, to be the 'ex-offender turned good'. It's not as easy as that. Now after the Oscars I've got another movie I'm going to start shooting in April. But the stage is where you go to get replenished. This is where you go to sharpen your sword as an actor and get the tool right. And get that feeling of an ensemble sharing the pressure of the next scene. You don't get that with the screen, you can't get it. That little camera lens is really not big enough. As told to Lindesay Irvine Sing Sing is in cinemas worldwide and Clarence Maclin is nominated for best adapted screenplay at the 2025 Academy Awards on 3 March.
USA Today
14-02-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Colman Domingo says we all have 'responsibility' to close racial equality gap
Colman Domingo says we all have 'responsibility' to close racial equality gap Show Caption Hide Caption Black leaders celebrated for work closing racial wealth gap by Time Issa Rae, Senator Cory Booker, and other notable Black leaders were honored by Time magazine for their work to close the racial wealth gap. NEW YORK — In even the darkest times, Colman Domingo believes art is the way through. Time magazine's Impact Dinner on Thursday evening celebrated the honorees of The Closers issue, highlighting 25 Black leaders working to close the racial equality gap, from the Oscar-nominated "Sing Sing" actor Domingo to Olympic gold medalist Gabby Thomas and Emmy Award-winning queer actor Niecy Nash-Betts. "We've seen the world change, progress, sometimes regress, then progress, many times over," Domingo said as he ended the night with a moving toast. "When we think about equality in the world, it's not sweeping gestures, but it's actually the tiny acts. They can add up to real change." Domingo urged guests to "make a difference' however possible. "I'm here to remind you that a small act of grace can go a long way to a better understanding of one another and how we view the world around us." Colman Domingo talks 'Sing Sing' and how the cast of formerly incarcerated men inspired him Colman Domingo urges 'responsibility' in closing equity gaps, praises 'healing' work of his Oscar-nominated film 'Sing Sing' Domingo opened his powerful toast by commending Time's impact: "Thank you so much for putting a black gay man from Inner City West Philadelphia, the proud descendant of slaves and a proud son of an immigrant. I am my ancestors' wildest dreams." In his Oscar-nominated film "Sing Sing," Domingo portrays the real-life John "Divine G" Whitfield, who spent 24 years behind bars after being wrongfully convicted of second-degree murder. While imprisoned at New York's Sing Sing Correctional Facility in 1996, Whitfield co-founded Rehabilitation Through the Arts, a theater group helping incarcerated people gain critical life skills through writing and performing plays. The men in these programs "found the practice of theater and doing plays to be liberating and helping to give them tools to heal and find pathways to, as one character in our film says, 'to be human again,' especially in a place that is as dehumanizing and not set up for anyone's rehabilitation," Domingo said during his speech Thursday. He went on to cite the success rate of the program: It boasts less than a 3% recidivism rate compared to the 60% nationwide. Many of the formerly incarcerated men who took part in the program played themselves in the A-24 film. Watch Colman Domingo describe his Golden Globes red carpet look "Sing Sing" star Colman Domingo tells USA TODAY's Ralphie Aversa about the story behind his look at the 2025 Golden Globes red carpet. Last year's Time event: Angelica Ross commends Issa Rae's 'resilience' in Hollywood amid the racial wealth gap "It's a program that truly works. I know this as a theater practitioner. You pour love and hope and art into someone, and they will blossom, and it benefits every single one of us in this room," Colman added as guests nodded their heads in agreement, filling the room with echoes of "mhm." Colman cited a quote from Bayard Rustin, whom he portrayed in the biopic "Rustin," that resonates with him "every single day": "We either believe in freedom and justice for all, or we do not." "This is the way that we can actually do the work of healing. We look out for one another. We try to tune out the constant barrage of noise and focus on being, being love," he continued. "You are love, and I am love, and we lead with love. We have to win. "The moment we cease to hold each other, the moment we break faith with one another, the sea engulfs us and the light goes out," Domingo said, quoting writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin. "It is all of our responsibility to close the racial equality gap, the racial equity gap. We will all win when we look at our fellows and see them thriving." Recapping NYFW 2025: We went to 45 New York Fashion Week shows, events After President Donald Trump's DEI rollbacks, 'tough work' ahead Journalist Elaine Welteroth took the stage to lead a discussion on "strategies for achieving racial equity." The room felt heavy under the weight of President Donald Trump's executive order calling for the end of what The White House called "radical and wasteful" diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The Closers honoree Elise Smith, the CEO and founder of tech startup Praxis Labs, who was worried that the panel's name ("Bridging the Divide: Strategies for Achieving Racial Equity") would be changed as major corporations abandon their DEI initiatives. But what gave her hope, she says, was the Time team doubling down on the mission. "It's that type of standing 10 toes down," Smith said, prompting applause throughout the venue. "We're in a moment where we're systematically under attack. How do we reframe the narrative around what it means to care and do the work of DEI?" she added from the stage. National Black Justice Collective CEO and executive director David J. Johns challenged listeners not to turn away from conflict. "So much of what's happened since November is that we've been retreating," he said during the panel discussion. "I'm asking you to do the tough work of staying in relationship with people who need to come closer to us and to show up with love." Olympian Gabby Thomas, who won three gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, dedicated a toast to the women in her life: her mother; fellow Olympian Allyson Felix; and her inspiration, track and field star Sanya Richards-Ross. "There's always someone beside us pushing us forward, and there's always someone ahead of us showing us what is possible," Thomas said. The event was curated to uplift Black changemakers, setting the celebratory tone with music and soul food. A DJ started the night with Afrobeats and closed with Beyoncé, playing "Essence" by Wiz Kid and Beyoncé's early-2000s hit "Naughty Girl." The three-course meal was served family-style and prepared by Darnell Lane, Chef De Cuisine at Second Floor NYC. Guests dug into honey butter cornbread, chow chow salad, southern fried chicken, blackened creole salmon, braised green bean with smoked turkey, mashed candied yams and vegan mac and cheese throughout the night's programming.
