Established in 2004, Arts Connect is a community-based intervention and recidivism-prevention program created specifically for court-involved girls ages 11 – 19 living in Pierce County. A partnership with Pierce County Juvenile Court and multiple collaborating community organizations, Arts Connect was designed in response to the need for a program that supported girls during the challenging time of court-ordered probation, by helping them to forge lasting, healthy connections to the community.

 

Arts Connect begins in detention with two hour-long workshops each week. These are taught by a professional teaching artist, who delivers a short, photo-filled PowerPoint of the post-release sessions followed by a hands-on activity that explores a technique and concept in the visual, literary or performing arts – a lesson on perspective drawing, haiku poetry or character improvisation, for example.

 

Staff work closely with probation officers to enroll girls in 12-week post-release sessions held at Hilltop Artists’ Wilson High School hot shop and adjacent all-purpose classroom. Staff lead these weekly, three-hour classes with support from guest artists, probation officers and volunteers. Hands-on projects are generated from discussions and writings about identity, society and healthy lifestyles. At the completion of the art project, family, friends, judges, probation officers and the public are invited to showcase events in which the girls present their artwork, read their writings and/or lead participatory demonstrations. Beginning in 2010, the final two weeks of every post-release session will engage girls in a particular community organization – a food bank, a domestic violence shelter, a women’s health clinic. After learning about the mission and services, paid and volunteer jobs, they’ll execute a service project for the organization and/or its clients.

 

During each of the 12-week sessions, healthy dinners are served, and girls can arrive up to an hour early (straight from school) for snack, homework help, or just to talk with adult mentors about the week’s ups and downs. Returning girls are given new ones to mentor, and all receive leadership “internships,” such as “opening circle facilitator” and “showcase host.”

 

To learn more, please contact Arts Connect Program Director Diana Falchuk: dfalchuk@hilltopartists.org