July 2022
Welcome to July at On the Inside
" Storytelling, you know, has a real function. The process of storytelling is itself a healing process...a form that becomes inseparable from your whole self. That's what stories do. Stories differ from advice in that, once you get them, they become a fabric of your whole soul. That is why they heal you." -Alice Walker
I've carried this quote around with me for many years, Alice Walker's words help me make sense of what it is I do and why I do it. We become the fabric of each other's lives and learn to better understand our own. I started writing and drawing stories when I was about five. I would wedge my desk in between my bedroom doorway and sell them to my parents' friends when they would have dinner parties. I would wait for an adult to come over and ask me about what this drawing meant or why I wrote this story. I was always imagining things, worlds, people.
On The Inside continues to connect me to the truth of people through storytelling.
As I grew into adulthood, I was surrounded by books, visual artists, and theatre. I immersed myself in reading, in studying theatre, in seeing films and theatre, in listening to music, in running miles. I wanted to understand how stories lived IN us, and around us. I wanted to consume as many stories as I possibly could.
The more I learnt, the more I began to share my own, one small puzzle piece at a time.
When the covid pandemic hit, I walked daily for sanity, for exercise, for something to do.
The idea is to connect women, to gather stories from those inside,
side by side those living on the outside was born and our four class series was born.
To connect our humanity,
to see our similarities,
to witness our differences,
and ultimately to envision a world where healing might happen collectively.
Our four class series has continued, an eight class series for women inside serving time has emerged, a monthly collective meeting continues for those that have served time, and those looking to connect with more women and share in creativity, healing, and conversation.
Please join us on your own journey of creativity and healing by signing up for one of our upcoming class series.
Our facilitation is expanding with caseworkers and adults incarcerated with tentative plans to teach at the two women's prisons in Ireland this Fall.
Our stories are how we heal, when we learn to tell them, and when we learn to release them.
Thank you for being a part of our story.
-Nikki, Founder
On The Inside
“Freedom means healing from my childhood self.”
-Wyoming Women’s Center, current student
Boston we are coming for you!
This summer you can also find Carol and Nikki teaching at Create Art in Community , a local art studio in Boston alongside Founder, Gena Mavuli. Some words from Gena about our budding partnership:
My hope is that in planting this seed, some exciting and still-unknown things will grow. My hope is that we’re creating way more, as a community, than we can currently imagine.’
-Gena Mavuli, Founder of Create Art in Community
*You can join us for this exciting partnership in person or online by signing up right here before it sells out.
“Freedom means the healing that I’m doing with my family. It is the love they still have for me.”
-Wyoming Women’s Center, current student
2022 4 class series dates/times (2 hours Zoom/in person)-
-Saturdays 9-11am PT/12-2pm ET June 4,11, 18, & 25
*choose 1 set of 4 classes to participate in.
*Limited to 6 female identifying folks p/group. $200 p/four class series, paid on our website before link and location are sent out.
2022 Monthly Group Gatherings (2 hours)-
Wednesday, June 1 JOURNEYS
Thursday, July 7 SHADOW WORK
Monday, August 1 LOVE
Thursday, September 1 COURAGE
Saturday, October 1 FLEXIBILITY
Wednesday, November 2 VALUES
Thursday, December 1 HOPE
**all monthly group meetings are 12pm-2 pm PT/3pm-5 pm ET
We hope to see you in class this year- joins us for four sessions and then move into our monthly group as we deepen the connections, strengthen our creativity, and build long lasting relationships with women inside and outside prison facilities.
Your actions matter. Your words matter. How you show up matters.
Much love and gratitude for your ongoing support,
Nikki Weaver and Caroline Cox
-Founder and Project Manager
Follow along on our social media platforms, you can find us on: Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIN.
Join our growing community today in our four class series-
Our four class series is a great way to become a part of our work, learn about the class structure, create with us, and build community. Each class occurs over Zoom so you can participate from anywhere. Every class you can expect to: share, create, receive, and learn as we make work that goes into our facilities and work from our inside students is shared with us. Our next class series meets on-
-Series 1: Tuesdays 10am-12pm PT/1-3pm ET
September 20 & 27
October 4 & 11
-Series 2: Thursdays 4-6pm PT/7-9pm ET
October 6, 13, 20, & 27
Cost $200
This series is co-led by Caroline Cox, Project Manager at On The Inside, and Nikki Weaver Founder.
Zoom links and instructions are sent out after payment is made. We offer a sliding scale and full scholarships too, all you need to do is connect us.
Payment can be made right here.
OUR MISSION
On The Inside builds a creative connection for incarcerated women, both individually and collectively. We do this by telling our stories, igniting our hearts, and sparking dialogue. Creative connection for a greater good, we create community for women on the inside and outside by breaking down the walls that keep us apart.
The United States houses over 1.3 million incarcerated women.
We aim to change that.
Creativity is what keeps us alive, it is what draws us together. Our stories save us and have the ability to heal us. Healing is both collective and deeply personal. We create shared dialogue by holding a container for women to transform themselves. We do this through creative prompts where each woman has a voice in the room, through exploratory movement, creating a rolodex of emotions to draw from, and boundaries to hold.
We begin.
We create.
We play together.
We share.
We seek closure.
We begin again.
We hold weekly classes to gather in a circle. We create weekly newsletters where women on the outside create work (poetry, art, song) for women on the inside, and the women on the inside do the same. We create living, breathing works of art that move us far beyond the page, beyond the stage, and into a space of embodiment.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Lisa Collins
Karen Pride
Fungai Mubayiwa
Katie Morell
Caroline Cox
Megan Gaffney
Atieno Bird
Dr.Mercy Nyangulu Nyepudzayi
Jazmin Jimenez
Cindy Lone
Tina Packer
Mia Zara
Marie Gonzalez
Beck Wilschefski
Together, we stretch four continents wide.
Collectively, we are making a difference by creating together.
You are always invited to join our work, join our collective, join our creative expanding circle.
Support
Support our work by sustaining a woman through a monthly contribution right here. Your donation will support the ongoing weekly and monthly work we continue to build in person, and online.
You can join our four week class series, and then continue on in our monthly class by signing up here.
May you spend this month focusing on the ways in which you choose to align yourself with your actions and your words. What we do in the world matters, what we say, and the language we choose has a long term ripple effect on the people that hear you. Consider deepening your connections and widening your circles. Thank you for being a part of our work and our growing community. It matters. You matter.
-Nikki Weaver, Executive Director Founder
Ways to Get Involved and Support:
Donate
You can support our work by sustaining a woman through a monthly contribution or a one-time donation.
Your donation will support the ongoing weekly and monthly work we continue to build in person, and online.
Donate Here.
Shop
Visit our online shop to purchase a small selection of goods that support our work on the inside!
Check out our shop here.
Join our Classes
You can join our four week class series, and then continue on in our monthly class.
Sign up Here.
