I feel respected here and I feel human

I've been part of a team of 6 artists that designed and delivered a programme of art practices in HMP Parc. The title of this blog post comes from one of many quotes that were gathered at the end. This one really stood out for us.

Creative Roots is a collaboration between Das Clarks, and was devised during lockdown. Gareth Clark called it 'Creative Roots.' The project aimed to offer residents of HMP Parc, including staff, the chance to explore creativity without being held back by perfection, beauty, or technical excellence, to inspire new perspectives and dialogue. We hoped to introduce different ways of being, within confinement. 

I worked alongside Gareth Clark to deliver a 'foundation' phase in the first few weeks. This contained 'no-fail' activities such as continuous line drawing and ink painting. As Gareth explains, "The tension arose from a desire to take the men on a creative journey and to do that we wanted them to trust us, to follow a programme that asked them to draw without looking at the page, to throw imaginary items around the room and to describe what a photography might sound like."

Creative Roots began with Research and Design. Gareth and Dee Rogers facilitated it on Zoom and made it fun - initially calling it 'The Escape Committee' but later this title was dropped for obvious reasons!

Working in the prison was daunting at first - the sights and sounds were overwhelming. Personally, going into 'A' Block felt like going into the bowels of a gigantic ship - the depths of the engine room where only the 3rd class passengers are allowed. (I only knew this because I'd been to the Titanic Museum in Belfast the year before). It was the first time that I'd delivered a flower painting practice to men. I thought they were going to laugh me out of the room (they didn't). My preconceived notions of what an inmate was, were turned upside-down.

It's been one of the most rewarding and challenging experiences I've ever had and I would do it again. If you want to read more about the project, check out the Criminal Justice Alliance website which contains in depth blogs from each of the artists involved. Creative Roots was independently evaluated by Mark Jones of Higher Plain Research and Education. Gareth and I were invited to share the research and how the project developed at the New Starts, Prison Arts Symposium held in Liverpool on September 28th. That's one for another blog post...

Creative Roots was funded by the Arts Council of Wales 'Connect and Flourish' (a later strand was supported by G4S).
The artists involved are: Dee Aud Rogers (and co-director of Das Clarks), Bill Chambers, Marega Palser, and Jo Haycock.

This image above are some of the inspirational sources I brought in, including paintings by Cy Twombly, Van Gogh, Grayson Perry, Thrush Holmes, and the Dutch Masters.