The Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project is a program at Auburn University dedicated to bringing educational opportunities to prisoners in Alabama. The program is helping the adult prison population to gain a quality education, and also to build a relationship with learning that will continue to grow for the rest of their lives. APAEP provides access to sustained and quality educational experiences in the arts, humanities, hard sciences, and human sciences. APAEP believes that education provides a fertile field for transformation and growth and that these learning experiences contribute to the positive development of the person. Consider the Sentence: An Art Exhibition + Auction to Benefit the Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project April 15th April 15, 2015 4:00 pm- 8:00 pm at The Sanctuary, an Arts and Entertainment Venue 432 S. Goldthwaite St. Montgomery, Alabama Free and Open to the Public www.auburn.edu/apaep APAEP: 334.844.8946 [email protected] An Event Sponsored by the ACLU of Alabama and the Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project in the College of Human Sciences at Auburn University Dear APAEP Friends and Supporters, APAEP is funded by Last semester former ADOC Commissioner Kim Thomas came to my non-fiction writing class to observe. The class was having its second day of discussion on Peter Heller’s The Dog Stars, a post-apocalyptic piece that riveted the classroom. Readers are given two primary fictional characters: one a poet/pilot/builder and the other a former military survivalist. The class moved into an intense conversation on manifestations of hope and what it means to survive. Questions and ponderings that are completely appropriate for the place where they currently reside. We ended the discussion with the role of beautiful writing to transfix and transform the reader, but also an abiding respect for recognizing that people are on their own paths in this world. Why am I telling you this? Without our program coming into Alabama prisons, there is no space for this kind of class to happen. That means that close to 30,000 people would not even have the opportunity to find a community through learning, and to push themselves and each other to greater understandings through reading literature, or any other of the classes we offer. If our classes did not matter, the Commissioner of the ADOC would not have taken his time to visit the class. We would not have teachers clamoring to work with us if something important and meaningful was not happening. If our classes were not making an impression upon the students we serve, then they would not continue to attend the classes. One student says frequently about the prison, “You are what you talk about in here. And APAEP students talk about poetry and books and math and science.” Education is fundamental to our human existence. It provides us the means to direct our own lives and our own curiosities. It allows us a way into the world that we choose for ourselves. People, all people, need the opportunity to interact with education in a meaningful and challenging way. Our students desperately need APAEP’s educational programming. APAEP students need your continued support to have the opportunity to learn in college-level classes. We cannot do this without you. - Kyes Stevens, Director Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project “It’s so inspiring to be around people who really want to learn and are interested in everything. …I’ve taught high school and college and you just don’t get that kind of commitment to learning in a traditional classroom.” - Kenny Kruse, APAEP Instructor “ The classes of the Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project (APAEP) at Auburn University are an asset to the state of Alabama where there are currently not enough educational programs to meet the needs of those incarcerated. Working in many facilities across the state, APAEP helps offenders develop a positive relationship with learning and creates opportunities to be successful in education. These experiences will benefit offenders while incarcerated and prove essential for success when they return to their communities. - Kim Thomas, Former Commissioner of the Department of Corrections State of Alabama APAEP classes are offered for Continuing Education Units through Auburn University, with classes meeting once a week for 14 weeks. Most APAEP classes are open enrollment and have diverse learners participating in each class. Because of the indigent nature of APAEP students, books are checked out for use for the duration of the class, and other class supplies are provided. Students are challenged to ponder learning as process, to think about education as an experience that does not stop at the end of each course, but a lifelong investment in themselves, their families and communities. Program Coordinator: Meredith Randall knight Meredith Randall Knight joined APAEP in January 2015 as program coordinator. Before coming to APAEP, Meredith taught ceramics and sculpture at Auburn University Montgomery and at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Art. Previously, she was also the Co-director of Black Belt 100 Lenses at the University of Alabama and the Visual Arts Summer Program Manager at the MacDonald Hughes Foundation in Tuscaloosa. Meredith will be working to schedule classes, develop the traveling art exhibit, and build arts opportunities for prison students, among many other program projects. Her experiences as artist and activist will contribute greatly to APAEP’s goal to bring quality and sustained programming to Alabama prisons. We are thrilled to have her on board. Growing up in Alabama, Meredith graduated summa cum laude with a BFA and an MFA in Sculpture from the University of Alabama. Her work is currently on display at the von Braun Center in Hunstville, The Carver Museum and Community Center in Gadsden, and The Bamboo Park in Northport, Alabama. Her work has been displayed throughout the southeast including The Rymer Gallery in Nashville, Spring Hill College in Mobile, the University of Mobile, the Sella-Granata and Sarah Moody Galleries at the University of Alabama, the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center in Tuscaloosa, the Kentuck Gallery in Northport, the Harrison Gallery in Tuscaloosa, The Kelly Fitzpatrick Memorial Gallery in Wetumpka, and the von Liebig Art Center in Naples, FL. In February 2015 APAEP received a $20,000 grant from the Kalliopeia Foundation “ Every class offered by APAEP builds knowledge. Each class opens a door, a window. Education makes a path for people to take hold of their life and build it. We are a program working where few work, trying to foster change as grown through learning and creating and finding our shared humanity. Your donations will help open those doors.” Kyes Stevens, Director Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project Coming this Summer APAEP will work with artist Steven Jones, through generous support from the Joan Mitchell Foundation, to offer our first mural art class. The class, which will take place at the Tutwiler Prison for Women, will create a mural for the visitation space. Students will learn the historical presence and significance of murals, and then work together to design and paint the mural. Facts & Figures: Facilities APAEP currently serve: Statistics: Bibb County Correctional Facility Bullock County Correctional Donaldson Correctional Facility Easterling Correctional Facility Elmore Correctional Center Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women Annex Montgomery Women’s Facility St. Clair Correctional Facility Staton Correctional Facility MAKE A DONATION Name City State Zip Phone Email Donation Amount Please include this form when mailing your donation. Number of students – 2155 Books Behind Bars – 21 facilities 10 facilities for library development Classroom Instruction Contact Hours – 4611 Julia Llanes, Development Coordinator for the College of Human Sciences donates regularly to the Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project. She says, “I believe that all members of our society deserve thought, consideration and a voice. Prison system inmates should not be an exception. Access to the arts and literacy provide an outlet for self-expression, positive socialization, introspection and spiritual growth. I support this exemplary program through monthly recurring gifts so that I may participate in letting this population know that they are not forgotten; and for those who may make it back into society there is a productive way to have a voice.” Thanks, Julia, for your generous support. Your financial support for the Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project will provide additional classes which impact the lives of the people like those seen throughout this brochure. • • • • Address Semester-length classes – 173 Donor Spotlight $50, APAEP can buy paper and pens for a writing class $500, a set of textbooks $1100 pays for half the salary of an artist, writer for scholar for one semester $2200 pays the salary of an artist, writer or scholar for one semester contact info 203 Spidle Hall Auburn, AL 36849 338.844.8946 [email protected] www.humsci.auburn.edu/apaep APAEP needs your support. Any donation amount will be greatly appreciated. To make an online contribution by credit card (AMEX, MasterCard, Visa,Discover), visit www.auburn.edu/humsci/apaep alabamaprisonartsandeducationproject Should you require additional support please contact Julia Llanes at [email protected] or 334-844-3814. To make a contribution by check, please make check payable to Auburn University Foundation, enter APAEP in the memo area, and mail to: Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project, 203 Spidle Hall, Auburn University, AL 36849. An official tax receipt will come under separate cover from the Auburn University Foundation. Contributions to the Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project are fully tax deductible, exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. alprisonproject alprisonproject Auburn University is an equal opportunity employer/educational institution.
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