March 2 – April 29, 2023
Reception: RESCHEDULED to Saturday, April 1st 1-3pm
Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) will present Fork in the Road, an exhibition featuring artwork by incarcerated individuals from correctional facilities in New York State. A brief presentation with the exhibition curator, RTA staff and formerly incarcerated artists of RTA’s visual arts program will take place at the reception.
The concept of the exhibition Fork in the Road—a moment of decision in life or history when a choice must be taken—was the vision of incarcerated participants of RTA’s visual arts program. The exhibition will feature 25-30 artworks from three (3) correctional facilities in New York State: Bedford Hills (women’s maximum security); Green Haven (men’s maximum security) and Woodbourne (men’s medium security) Correctional Facilities. The artwork was created in classes taught by RTA teaching artists Angela Tornello and Claire Wasserman, who also curated the exhibition.
The project is being supported in part by the NoVo Foundation and Arts Mid-Hudson (Ulster County Cultural Services and Promotion Fund).
About Rehabilitation Through the Arts:
The RTA model provides an intensive and comprehensive arts program that builds a sense of community, accountability and develops critical life skills so incarcerated participants can meet the challenges of connecting with family and community when released. RTA’s ongoing success is dramatic: Less than 5% of RTA members return to prison, compared to the national recidivism rate of 60%.
Founded at Sing Sing in 1996, RTA helps people in prison develop critical life skills through the arts, modeling an approach to the justice system based on human dignity rather than punishment. With a roster of over 30 professional teaching artists, RTA operates in six maximum and medium-security men’s and women’s New York State correctional facilities within a 150-mile radius of New York City, including Bedford Hills, Fishkill, Green Haven, Sing Sing, Taconic and Woodbourne. RTA teaches theater, music, dance, creative writing and visual arts to over 225 incarcerated men and women at any one time, with plans to expand its programs within New York State and beyond.
Learn more at www.rta-arts.org.