Developing an art programme and exhibition based on prison inmates' educational needs

Abstract

This practice-based research examines the role of an art education programme conducted with prison inmates. The art programme was designed together with these non-artists in an informal educational set-up. This study was motivated by one main research question being: In what ways can art education contribute to the educational process of growth of prison inmates? This study developed around three main goals. The first one is to design an art programme with the participating inmates themselves to meet their own educational needs. The second aim is to create an interaction between the researcher, who is also an artist and a teacher, with the participating inmates. The third and final aim is to setup an exhibition of the work produced by the inmates. Dialogue, learning by doing, equality and art as a communicative tool are some of the fundamental concepts which served as a blueprint to this study. To illustrate these concepts, a phenomenological qualitative research model has been used. This was achieved through participatory action research and a/r/tography as the two research designs utilised in this study. Additionally, this research was supported by phenomenological interviews and focus groups which were adopted to collect data from the subjects under study. Ultimately these achievements were accomplished through dialogue between all members of the group as well as a dialogue that was built between the participating inmates and the audience outside the prison walls through the exhibited works.