A Unique University-Prison Partnership

Annie Buckley

July 19, 2020
Student interns and participating artists gathered around a table
Student interns gather with participating artists to discuss their work and share ideas at California State Prison, Los Angeles County.
Student interns and participating artists gathered around a table
Student interns gather with participating artists to discuss their work and share ideas at California State Prison, Los Angeles County.

Art and Design

People incarcerated in prison have been shown to benefit from taking part in art seminars and projects. Participation in arts programming in prisons leads to increased empathy, confidence and self-esteem.

The Prison Arts Collective (PAC) applies a university model and principles of restorative justice to rehabilitation through visual arts and creative writing. PAC’s diverse teaching team includes faculty, undergraduate and graduate students, and professional guest artists, writers, musicians and scholars.

Prison Arts Collective website

Annie Buckley and a prisoner discuss art hung on a whiteboard
Annie Buckley guides a participant during one of Prison Art Collective’s critique classes at the California Institution for Men.

Annie Buckley directs SDSU’s School of Art and Design. Her focus on art and social justice led to her founding of PAC in 2013. PAC facilitates weekly art programming in eleven California state prisons and has chapters at four CSU campuses, providing an important opportunity for those incarcerated to engage with others and develop critical and creative thinking.

PAC is a project of Arts in Corrections, an initiative of the California Arts Council and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (IA AIC-18-136).

Annie Buckley
“We envision a safer, healthier society where everyone has access to the arts to promote wellbeing and empowerment.”

Student union building at sunset

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