43rd Prison Arts Program Annual Show 2022/23

by | Mar 2, 2023

March 20 – April 22, 2023

Opening Reception: Thursday, March 23, 4-7 p.m.

The Art Gallery at Eastern Connecticut State University

Community Partners in Action is preparing for the 43rd exhibition of artwork from Connecticut’s prisons. This diverse, inclusive exhibition features drawings, paintings, sculptures, and carpentry projects from accomplished artists and those exhibiting for the first time.

Anyone who is currently incarcerated in Connecticut, or who has been incarcerated in the state, is eligible to participate. We invite families and friends of those incarcerated to the reception, which can often lead to visits to prison and renewed family relationships.

Jeffrey Greene, CPA’s Prison Arts Program manager since 1991, encourages his students to use artmaking as an introspective experience that helps people create the space needed to reflect.

“Art engenders empathy. It makes the world consider the artist. It makes the artist consider the world.”

Participants develop a range of skills including creativity, self-discipline, work ethic, self-esteem, and calm. A few prison arts participants have gone on to pursue the visual arts after their release.

Stop by the show which is free and open to the public. Made possible with the generous support from funders including, Bank of America, J. Walton Bissell Foundation, Common Sense Fund, Connecticut Department of Correction, Greater Hartford Arts Council, Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, and many individuals and collaborating organizations.

Thank you to everyone at Eastern Connecticut State University for their support!

Learn more.