FREE! UCF’s Florida Prison Education Project hosts an art exhibition and one-hour panel discussion on the value of arts-based prison education.

UCF’s Florida Prison Education Project hosts an art exhibition and one-hour panel discussion featuring Baz Dreisinger, Executive Director of Incarceration Nations Network and author of Incarceration Nations: A Journey to Justice in Prisons Around the World, David Gussak, Florida State University Professor of Art Therapy and author of Art and Art Therapy with the Imprisoned: Re-Creating Identity, Curt L. Tofteland, founder of the internationally-acclaimed program Shakespeare Behind Bars, and Omari Booker, a formerly incarcerated professional artist. Speaking from their diverse positions as an English professor, an art therapist, a theatre practitioner, and a practicing visual artist, they will discuss the value of arts-based prison education. Topics covered during the discussion will include art and incarceration across the world, visual art as psychotherapy, Shakespeare as a transformative force, and painting as an expression of freedom. The panel discussion will be free and open to the public and held in the Pugh Theatre. It also will be live-streamed via Zoom to our incarcerated students, as well as to any general community members who would like to attend virtually. The art exhibition will be on the display in the lobby of the Dr. Phillips Center throughout the duration of the festival.

Funding for this program was provided through a grant from the Florida Humanities with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this event do not necessarily represent those of Florida Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Each spring, UCF hosts a large-scale celebration of creativity at Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. This year, UCF Celebrates the Arts explores the intersection of arts and technology, and showcases our students, faculty and alumni through dance, concerts, cabaret, lectures and discussions, film, chamber music, family-friendly events, visual arts and more. The festival has events and exhibits for all ages and interests, and with half of the events being free, is an ideal opportunity to try something new. Fantastic possibilities lie ahead at UCF Celebrates the Arts, April 2-15 at Dr. Phillips Center! Learn more at arts.ucf.edu/celebrates.