Reforming Arts

Officially founded as a Georgia nonprofit corporation in 2010, Reforming Arts has grown from one person teaching one class to a thriving organization that provides top quality arts and humanities higher education classes to over forty students each quarter. In a short time, we went from a couple of concerned individuals to a growing movement of artists, educators, and citizens who are impacting the lives of incarcerated women and giving them the tools to change their lives. Our College in Prison program uses Theatre-Infused Liberal Arts curriculum in order to deliver college classes through a partnership with Georgia State University. The program uses applied theatre techniques to foster creative-critical thinking, as we believe it promotes self-actualization, connection, community, compassion, and consciousness-raising, all of which are essential components of the type of space and experience we are invested in creating. Our current certificate program in theatre-infused liberal arts takes two years to accomplish and requires students to complete 47 credit hours. This program currently operates at Whitworth Women's Facility. Our Theatre Reentry Program creates, presents staged readings of, and tours original plays about the experiences of reentering citizens. Participants are individuals who were formerly enrolled in Reforming Arts' higher education program during their incarceration as well as other individuals who were formerly incarcerated in women's prisons in Georgia. Participants work with Reforming Arts to create original plays that explore the struggles and complexities of reentry and the systemic problems surrounding mass incarceration in the United States.