Explore Art and the Hope that Resides in Inmates in the Federal Prison System

Brokenhood: The Art of Healing Through Community, Mar. 12, Denver Seminary

Littleton, Colo. –Within a prison environment, inmates have historically gone to great lengths to create artwork as a way to focus on something other than their surroundings and to create a sense of safety for themselves. However, efforts to produce quality and meaningful artwork has almost been entirely inmate-led within most prisons. Join Justin Reddick, seminarian-turned prison art facilitator, as he explores the impact of art inside the Federal Prison Complex in Florence, Colo., on March 12, from 7 p.m. -9 p.m., at Denver Seminary.

Watch Justin Reddick, Prison Creative Arts Platform, Rocky Mountain PBS – April 4, 2019

Creativity Breaks Free in Color of Hope, Humanity Rising, Westword – July 25, 2019

Using the exhibit Brokenhood: The Art of Healing Through Community as a foundation, Reddick will discuss the Creative Arts Platform, produce a live painting, auction off art, and more. Guests are also invited to spend time in the Seminary’s Bridge Gallery, viewing art created by ADX Supermax inmates, as well as art created by Reddick and his colleagues.

“Brokenhood showcases the radical struggle that people took together, moving from sorrow to joy through their kinship and their shared love of the arts,” said Reddick. “It offers a mature body of work that centers on the broken aspects of humanity, personal triumph, and the intense hope that resides between the bars of incarceration.”

The majority of the art displayed in Brokenhood represents the CAP program’s recent graduating class from the ADX Supermax prison. This is the first time they have shown their work collectively to the public.

CAP is an activity designed to mentor participants using artistic methods, ideologies, and entrepreneurial techniques that help prisoners succeed in their communities upon release. For those not releasing back into society, CAP offers a holistic approach to skills development, team building, and artistic exploration.

“We are honored to share this art in our Bridge Gallery as well as host this event,” said Mark Young, Denver Seminary president. “There are many ways that people can explore the redemptive power of the gospel. Art is one way that seems to be a true gift for inmates within the CAP program.”

Since its inception in 2016, the Creative Arts Platform has garnered local, regional, and national support, most notably from its partnership with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Closer to home, CAP has established local connections in Southern Colorado with Colorado State University-Pueblo, the Fremont Center for the Arts, and the Museum of Colorado Prisons. Brokenhood: The Art of Healing Through Community marks CAP’s introduction into the Denver Metro area.

Pieces from Brokenhood: The Art of Healing Through Community will be on display in the Seminary’s Bridge Gallery in the Harold and Virginia Simpson Leadership Center through May 14. The event on March 12 is free, open to the public, and runs from 7 p.m. -9 p.m. The Gallery opens at 6:30 p.m.

Inmate art and art created by CAP facilitators will be available for purchase. Proceeds from inmate art will be split evenly between the inmate and a nonprofit of their choice. Proceeds from CAP facilitators’ art will be donated to Denver Seminary for its Training and Mentoring Program.

More information is available on the Denver Seminary website at denverseminary.edu/prisonart.

Denver Seminary is located at 6399 S. Santa Fe Dr., Littleton. For more information, contact Andrea Weyand, senior director of communications, at 303.762.6948, or Andrea.Weyand@denverseminary.edu.

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About Denver Seminary – Denver Seminary is a non-denominational graduate school of theology located in Littleton, Colo. The Seminary’s mission is to prepare men and women to engage the needs of the world with the redemptive power of the gospel and the life-changing truth of Scripture. Established in 1950, Denver Seminary offers on-campus, fully online, and hybrid degree programs, and has an extension campus in Washington DC and a Korean Global Program. In addition, the Seminary offers programming for lay ministry through its Hispanic Program and Black Church Program.

Contact:
Andrea Weyand, Senior Director of Communications
Phone: 303.762.6948
E-mail: andrea.weyand@denverseminary.edu
Date: Feb. 26, 2020