Acting Out in Detention: Using the Arts to Connect Young People

March 18, 2015; Daily Herald (Provo, UT)

What can be more powerful than the expression of true feeling and life experience in a public setting? This is exactly the mission of the @ct Risk No More theater group in Utah, which creates and performs original works written by children in juvenile detention centers.

Recently, @ct Risk No More performed a production titled “Behind These Walls,” which focuses on the stories of juveniles from the Slate Canyon Youth Center in Provo, Utah, and Salt Lake Valley Detention Center. The performance covers a range of topics including teen pregnancy, abandonment, and violence issues. Once the theater group becomes more established, it will expand to have performances in rehabilitation centers, group homes, and high schools to continue to spread the messages from youth peers on the trials and tribulations of life.

This theater group serves as a resource, outlet, and community service project connecting juveniles inside and outside of detention centers, uniting a typically segregated community.

“I really believe if you’re a rebel, you’re an artist,” said Heidi Mendez Harrison, the nonprofit’s founder and show’s director. “All of these kids [in detention centers] have artistic potential. I started the theater company so when they get out of the system, rehab or foster care they have an artistic place to go.”

Using art for therapeutic or social service reasons is just one of the many impacts of arts and culture on our communities. Over the years, it has been observed that arts and culture not only make us “feel good,” but serve as economic drivers, as educational platforms, and as support systems for social issues. They impact the way regions are developed and shaped through place-making initiatives. A great example of the social impact of art and culture is the way in which the medical profession uses the arts for patients in a myriad of healthcare stages for periods of development, advancement, and transition.

More specifically, the arts have been used in other social programs like detention centers and other community-based institutions. For example, the Americans for the Arts YouthARTS program identified that statistical data was needed at a time when only youth art program “success stories” existed to prove its profound impact. The program’s mission is to continually tell the story (through anecdotal and hard-data) of the impact of arts programming on at-risk youth. Through several years of research, YouthArts found that arts programs can have a real impact on youth. Not only can such programs enhance young peoples’ attitudes about themselves and their futures, but the programs also can increase academic achievement and decrease delinquent behavior. (A follow-up evaluation is being conducted to determine if the programs have a lasting impact on youth participants.)

@ct Risk No More is just one example of how the arts sector in the United States crosses over into the social-community sector for a greater cause. Overall, arts and culture have a profound impact on our values. Not only can the arts be experienced and enjoyed for leisure, but they continue to be tools and resources to make major societal advances in our communities.—Jennifer Swan

About the author

Jennifer Swan

Jennifer Swan is currently the Associate Director for Arts Services Initiative of WNY (ASI). In this role Ms. Swan assists in positioning ASI as the link between the arts and cultural community and other sectors of the region. She provides outreach and administrative support to ASI’s partner networks including the Greater Buffalo Cultural Alliance (GBCA), Cultural Alliance of Niagara (CAN), and serves on the Arts Partners for Learning (APL) Leadership Team. Ms. Swan is the New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization (DEC) Grant Program Coordinator for Erie and Niagara Counties. Previously Ms. Swan was the Business Manager for the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus where she was responsible for the day–to-day operations, working alongside the Board of Directors and committees. Major projects included the involvement of the Chorus in the Music Culture 716 collaborative and extending the Chorus’ regular season to include special performances at community events such as the National Historic Preservation Conference held in Buffalo in October 2011. Ms. Swan currently serves on the Chorus’ Concert, Marketing, and Nominating Committees. From 2009-2011 she managed and maintained the box office and front of house at the Lancaster Opera House, and orchestrated and organized an annual fundraiser for two years. Here she solicited donations and managed all aspects of the event from preparation to day-of activities. Her other arts and cultural work includes judging Congressman Higgins’ Congressional Student Art Competition in 2012, 2013, and 2014; past work includes Music is Art’s The Big Easy in Buffalo Committee, Volunteer Coordinator for Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center’s Artists and Models: Nocturminal fundraiser, Marketing/Concert Crew for Slee Hall at Lippes Concert Hall at the University at Buffalo, and Music Librarian and Marketing for the Amherst Chamber Ensembles. Additional work in the for-profit sector includes Promotions for Citadel Broadcasting and Righteous Babe Records, and management and marketing for several individual music projects. Ms. Swan has presented at a variety of community-wide engagements including to Leadership Buffalo’s Arts, Culture, and Tourism Day (June 2014), Daemen College’s Art and Community Class (April 2014), University at Buffalo’s Management Career Development Class (November 2013), and the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) Evening with the Professionals at Buffalo State College (October 2012). Ms. Swan has a MA in Arts Management from the University at Buffalo and a BA in Communications/Broadcasting with a minor in music from Buffalo State College. While at the University at Buffalo she traveled abroad with NUROPE (Nomadic University for Art, Philosophy, and Enterprise in Europe) to Sweden and Finland, completing an intensive scholarly program entitled Beyond Bergman and Nobel: Scandinavian Cultural Policy and Performing Arts. As a result of that academic excursion, Ms. Swan co-wrote an article forUB International titled “Summer School in Arts Management Held in Finland and Sweden.”

More about:

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today