The newsletter for arts organisations working in criminal justice.
In this month's issue...
- National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance news
- Events and training
- Arts and criminal justice news
- Resources and publications
Season's greetings
Welcome to the National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance's (NCJAA) last newsletter of 2019. Our team has seen incredible work up and down the country over the year. We were thrilled to be able to showcase this at our events, online and in our publications - particularly through the case studies in our latest guide, Enhancing arts and culture in the criminal justice system: A partnership approach. We were also delighted to welcome Rebecca Hammond to the team to lead on our Inspiring Futures research programme, which is being delivered in partnership with the Institute of Criminology at the University of Cambridge. Watch this space for more information as the work progresses in 2020. Have a wonderful festive period and we look forward to working with you all in the New Year.
Buckinghamshire survey
We want to find out about arts projects happening in prisons in Buckinghamshire and what additional activity could improve outcomes for people with experience of the criminal justice system. For this we are interested in creative projects of any kind and any art form. If you are involved in local work as an artist, practitioner, prison staff member or service user, we would like to hear from you. Your answers given in this short survey will guide the NCJAA's new local practice development project. Take the survey here
Introduction to arts in prison
23rd January 2020 | Milton Keynes | From £75
Our popular one-day training course is being held in Milton Keynes to coincide with our local practice development work in Buckinghamshire. Described as "energising, thought-provoking and informative", the course aims to provide an overview of the current criminal justice system and a practical insight into working inside prisons. It is aimed at those with an arts background but with little or no previous experience of working in criminal justice settings. Find out more and book here
New blog post: encouraging men to talk
No Place Productions' co-founder John Burns writes for our blog about his theatre company’s latest prison project and why from his personal experiences he knows it is so important for men to talk. Funded by Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service, No Place Productions' Man Up project has delivered 38 sessions in its first year, and John explains how its co-production approach and creative methods help address cultural stigmas around mental health. Read the blog here
New blog post: stories of the incarcerated
Dr Lorraine Gamman, Director of the Design Against Crime Research Centre at University of the Arts London, considers what we can learn from two works of art from the USA telling the stories of people in the criminal justice system. She reads prisoners' letters, poems and stories on the New York City High Line and reviews French photographer JR's new project: large-scale portraits painted on to the roof of a California prison. Read the blog here
Want to include something in the next newsletter?
We will be sending our next newsletter on Thursday 30th January 2020. Please email dora.dixon@clinks.org with any news, research, events, opportunities or blog proposals by Tuesday 21st January 2020.
Creative Festivals regional events
Dates in January | Various, England | Free
Creative Festivals aims to turn May 2020 into a month of creativity and culture through the coming together of Creativity and Wellbeing Week, Get Creative Festival and Age of Creativity. A series of networking and information events are taking place across the country to discuss regional plans for the festival and supporting opportunities for everyone, regardless of who or where they are, to participate in culture and creativity. Find out more and book here
Arts fundraisers networking event
20th January | Leeds | Free
RAISE: Arts, Culture and Heritage and Young Arts Fundraisers are hosting a networking event on developing resilience for early-career arts fundraisers. Lorna Clayton-Rawle, Development Manager at the National Railway Museum, will share experiences from her work across the cultural sector along with valuable insights from her time as a sole fundraiser. Travel bursaries are available. Find out more and book here
Art and HMP Grendon talk and screening
17th February | Birmingham | £3
Ikon Gallery's artist in residence at HMP Grendon, Dean Kelland, and other guests will share slides from the Art and HMP Grendon exhibition, followed by a screening of Samuel Beckett’s Film (1965), which plays with the notion of self-perception. The screening will be repeated for residents of HMP Grendon with the support of Flatpack and BFI. Find out more and book here
Synergy Theatre Project at Soho Theatre
26th February - 21st March | London | From £10
Synergy Theatre Project's latest production uses interviews with ex-prisoners and experts in immigration and criminal law and features true stories of people with experience of immigration detention and deportation. Titled The Special Relationship, the play was written by Hassan Abdulrazzak and researched in collaboration with Prisoners Abroad, a UK charity supporting British citizens imprisoned overseas and returning to the UK. Find out more and book here
2019 general election results
The Conservative Party has secured a majority in the 2019 general election. Nicky Morgan and Robert Buckland MP retain their positions as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and Secretary of State for Justice respectively. The current Conservative Party manifesto states it will “maintain our support for the arts and culture, taking pride in the world beating strengths of the UK’s creative industries and its unparalleled cultural heritage." Under criminal justice, the manifesto commits to a “fair justice system – one that stands for the law-abiding majority, not the criminal minority, and that gives a second chance to those who have served their time and wish to make a fresh start.” Read Clinks’ blog post on the Conservative Party manifesto here
Artsmark Award
Sandwell Youth Offending Service (YOS) has become the first YOS in the country to be awarded a prestigious Artsmark Award. Staff have spent the last 12 months dramatically improving its use of arts and culture to work more creatively with young people involved with its service. The Artsmark Award – the only creative quality standard for schools and education settings and accredited by Arts Council England – recognises the tangible impact of the YOS’ work and its developing expertise. Find out more here
Transgender in the prison system
Clinks has published Sarah-Jane Baker's episode of the Crime and Consequence podcast: 'Transgender in the 21st century prison system' on its blog. Sarah-Jane Baker is an award-winning violinist, poet, artist, and author of Life Imprisonment: An unofficial guide and Transgender behind prison walls. She served 30 years of her life sentence, making her the world’s longest-serving transgender prisoner. In the episode she reads her essay from Clinks and the NCJAA's recently published book, Crime and Consequence. Listen to the episode and read a transcript here
DPS spend over the past year
Clinks, the NCJAA and the Prisoner Learning Alliance have been tracking the Dynamic Purchasing System, an online procurement system enabling prison governors to commission small education projects, since it launched over a year ago. Following the release of new information on the £12.5 million that has been spent so far - which shows that arts activity makes up only 3% of funding - the Prisoner Learning Alliance has summarised key details and laid out suggested next steps for improvement on its website. Read the summary here
Socio-economic diversity in the arts
For the first time, Arts Council England (ACE) is going to be tracking the socio-economic diversity of the workforce of its funded organisations alongside tracking the same data of staff at ACE. The question will be added to the next annual survey for ACE National Portfolio Organisations. ACE hosted a panel discussion on the issues faced by working class people entering the creative sector, which is now available to watch online. Find out more here
Funding to tackle socio-economic diversity
The Weston Jerwood Creative Bursaries 2020-2022 programme provides an opportunity for talent from socio-economic backgrounds that are currently under-represented across the arts to develop and thrive. The programme works in partnership with 50 Host organisations to create 50 paid, year-long creative Fellowships to expand their capacity for artistic production and take part in an 18-month Organisational Change programme. The deadline to apply to be a Host organisation is 30th January 2020. Find out more and apply here
Suicide in prisons
Samaritans has published its first report on suicide in prisons. Unlocking the evidence: understanding suicide in prisons brings together existing literature on why people in prison are at an increased risk of suicide and Samaritans’ own new data offering a unique insight into the emotional concerns of prisoners before and when they reach the point of crisis. Read the report here
Statistics on race and criminal justice
New statistics on race and the criminal justice system from the Ministry of Justice show that in 2018, white individuals had a lower average custodial sentence length than all other ethnic groups and that black prisoners served the greatest proportion of their original sentence in custody. Infographics drawn from the statistics have been published alongside a report. Read the statistics here
Change from within
The Criminal Justice Alliance has published a new report, Change from Within, that shares insights from people with lived experience working to improve the criminal justice system. The report sets out a "clear case" for the future of the workforce. It argues that the meaningful inclusion of people with lived experience within the criminal justice workforce, across a wide variety of roles and organisations, is crucial. Read the report here
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This newsletter is written monthly by Dora Dixon. Email dora.dixon@clinks.org if you wish to submit any news.
Clinks manages the National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance (NCJAA) and is the legally accountable body for all official NCJAA activity.
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