On the Inside June 2023
“This is the best class I’ve ever taken at this facility. I tell everyone to sign up, and I really want to work with you when I get released.”-Current student, Women’s Eastern Reception Diagnostic and Correctional Center
*watercolor by current student at the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women made during our in person workshops, April 2023.
Thank you for being here, for sharing our story, and for being curious to lean in to what we are creating these days. This month we focus on sharing words, art, and stories from On The Inside. To bring you up to speed we serve women and youth in 5 states at 6 facilities. We continue to seek new facilities to join us in our work, and are seeing the outer circles grow with women, children, and our trans family grow with those that were formerly incarcerated or family members who have someone living on the inside of a prison facility.
“In this class that you have started I have found hope. I finally found a place where I belong like this class was made just for me.”
-current student, Nebraska Correctional Center for Women
*Carolyn, oldest incarcerated women in the state of Oregon
Facilities we currently serve at:
-Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, since 2018, this is where Caroline and I met and began our work
-Nebraska Correctional Center for Women, since 2021
-Wyoming Women’s Center, since 2021
-Wyoming Women’s Center: Youth Offenders, since 2023
-Women’s Eastern Reception Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Missouri, since 2023
-Virginia Correctional Center for Women, since 2023
*We lead weekly and monthly classes at these facilities led by our two-person facilitator teams, and monthly classes for caseworkers at some of these facilities.
Our support circles are broadening to encompass more facilitators. Caroline and I find that we work well as a team, one of us having lived through incarceration and one of us with experience of the system and facilitating. Together, we are building more teams like this with our two new hires by adding Jennifer who shared the lived experience of incarceration and Atieno (link here) who serves on our Board of Directors and works as an Executive Coach both in the US and beyond.
“This class has given me a passion for art and poetry I thought I’d lost.”
-current student, Wyoming Women’s Center
We are seeing more of our inside students released and seeking us out for support groups and for job opportunities. The transition of living inside prison to navigating the world outside of prison are vastly different.
Imagine it for yourself. We had one student recently released from Nebraska after spending 14 years inside. She had worked and served time at this facility for longer than some of the staff!
Our work begins inside, inside of ourselves as we uncover who it is we really are. Where trauma began, our ancestral lines, and we move into our bodies as we uncover our emotional life. We learn together, to speak to what is hard and true, to write it, to make art about it, and then ultimately to change the narrative.
The power, in our work, and in stories, is that we can change them. We can change ourselves and our perspectives. I think you’ll see that here this month.
*Don’t sit on the outside of this circle- ways that you can take action today:
1.Sign up for our final four-class series beginning in October, then join our monthly circle after completing our four-class series.
2. Become a monthly donor to sustain and build our work.
3. Share our work through your social media platforms to build our collective awareness.
“I am reminded of how to walk in strength and beauty again. I feel less alone when I am in this class”
-current student, Wyoming Women’s Center
SIGNATURE 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.
*We only offer our outside class series 4 times a year, these fill up FAST so connect with us to register today. Please confirm which series you would like to join.
FINAL FOUR CLASS SERIES of 2023-
Thursdays 5-7 pm PST/8 pm-10 pm EST
October 5, 12, 19, and 26.
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. Please connect with us if you would like to join our next class series and specify which four classes you would like to attend. The work builds upon itself so it is essential that you prioritize attending all four sessions. You can join our four week class series, and then continue on in our monthly class by signing up here.
Join us for our monthly gatherings of 2023-
All monthly groups meet from 12-2 pm PST/3 pm-5 pm EST
*Zoom link sent to all those who have participated in our 4-class or 8-class series.
In these classes, we gather and share, create together, move together, and discuss artwork and poetry from our students currently serving time. Your work is also shared inside facilities. It’s a chance to connect and grow with women worldwide.
Announcing our 2023 Monthly Group Gatherings (2 hours)-
**All monthly group meetings are 12 pm-2 pm PT/3 pm-5 pm ET over Zoom
Saturday, Jan 7 HOPE
Tuesday, Feb 7 LET’S GET SEXY
Thursday, March 2 AGILITY
Tuesday, April 17 TRUTH
Tuesday, May 2 CREATIVITY
Saturday, June 3 JOURNEYS
Thursday, July 6 SHADOW WORK
Tuesday, August 1 LOVE
Sunday, September 3 COURAGE
Monday, October 2 FLEXIBILITY
Thursday, November 2 VALUES
Saturday, December 2 HOPE
We hope to see you in class this year- join 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.
*in the room with our class at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, April 2023
“Loving memories
Often loving thoughts
Very structured days
Everyday is a blessing.”
-current student, Coffee Creek Correctional Facility
Your actions matter. Your words matter. How you show up matters.
Much love and gratitude for your ongoing support,
Caroline Cox and Jennifer Chapman and Nikki Weaver
-The Dream Team
*watercolor by current student at the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women made during our in person workshops, April 2023.
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
Dr. Lisa Collins
Reema Zaman
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
Elena Brower
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.
