Inmates work on a mural as part of a Project PAINT art workshop at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego. | Photo: Peter Merts.
In the early years of his incarceration, Guillermo Willie acknowledged, art was the farthest thing from his mind. My thoughts were OK, Im going to get some heroin. Im going to get some speed. Im going to get some drugs, recalled the Los Osos man, who spent 38 years in prison for assault and his role in the death of a fellow inmate before his release in 2008. My intent was to be a bum, a criminal. I had no thoughts of making it out of there.
But as he delved deeper into drawing and painting, his attitude began to shift.
There was a length of time where I was reflecting, going inside myself, [thinking] What am I doing with my life? he recalled. I wanted to be an artist and I knew what I was doing was a limitation on me being able to paint. I knew I needed to make a change.
Today, Willie, a visual artist and actor, is one of the numerous success stories of the Arts-in-Corrections program, a partnership between the California Arts Council and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, that aims to combat recidivism, nurture rehabilitation and foster safe conditions in state prisons, county jails and juvenile detention centers. By introducing inmates to everything from dance to drumming to drama, the programs supporters believe, Arts-in-Corrections can inspire deep and lasting change.
An inmate at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego participates in a still life drawing exercise conducted by Project PAINT. | Photo: Peter Merts.
--
--
While art is being used as the tool for teaching, these classroom experiences are encouraging a whole range of experiences, said Caitlin Fitzwater, communications director for the California Arts Council. We're talking about overcoming social barriers, overcoming economic barriers, learning sensitivity, intellectual flexibility, creativity...
Workshops and classes offered by specially trained professional artists, she continued, help inmates by reducing staff conflict. They relieve stress and encourage self-confidence, motivation [and] reliability, even simple things like time management and taking initiative -- all things that translate into being deeply impactful rehabilitative skills and qualities.
According to Kristina Khokhobashvili, public information officer at the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the aim of Arts-in-Corrections has been the same from the start. The No. 1 goal is public safety. We don't want people who get out of prison to commit crimes, re-victimize people and go back to prison.
We've proven over the years that you can't just lock someone away and not give them any hope or anything constructive to do with their time or teach them a trade and expect them to do just fine when they're done with their time, Khokhobashvili said. It just doesn't work. They can't get a job. They can't connect with their family.
That's why the department offers plenty of options for inmates open to rehabilitation. Defy Ventures, for instance, works with budding entrepreneurs behind bars, teaching them how to develop leadership skills, improve organization and pitch business ideas to investors. The Last Mile teaches computer coding to incarcerated techies, and inmates working with Canine Companions for Independence train service dogs.
Each rehabilitative program, Khokhobashvili said, represents one more skill, one more outlet that an inmate can have once he or she is released.
An inmate performs for an audience that includes Tim Robbins, artistic director of The Actors Gang in Los Angeles, at the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco in 2014. | Photo: Peter Merts.
Established by the California State Legislature in June 1980, Arts-in-Corrections was modeled after the Prison Arts Program launched in 1977 at Vacavilles California Medical Facility under the direction of the nonprofit William James Association, according to a 1983 report by Larry Brewster, a public policy professor at the University of San Franciscos School of Management. The program was initially designed to improve the quality of the prison experience for both inmates and staff, as well as encourage better institution-community relations through community service art projects and concert series, Brewster wrote in his introduction to An Evaluation of the Arts-in-Corrections Program of the California Department of Corrections.
His report evaluated the effectiveness of Arts-in-Corrections at four institutions -- California Medical Facility, Deuel Vocational Institution near Tracy, San Quentin State Prison and Correctional Training Facility in Soledad. Like Brewsters 2014 report, California Prison Arts: A Quantitative Evaluation, it found that benefits to inmates, staff and taxpayers -- ranging from improved self-confidence and self-discipline to a reduction of institutional violence -- far outweighed the costs.
In 1982, a total of 1,116 inmates at those facilities enrolled in 7,028 hours of individual and group instruction in the visual, literary, performing and media and fine craft disciplines.
Participation in Arts-in-Corrections grew steadily over the years. In the 1986-1987 fiscal year, more than 300 Arts-in Corrections instructors provided 36,000-plus hours of instruction to 8,196 program participants, according to Terry Thornton, deputy press secretary with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
About a decade later, in fiscal year 1998-1999, 12 to 14 percent of the inmates incarcerated in 33 prisons and three camps -- as many as 21,621 people -- had access to Arts-in-Corrections during leisure hours, Thornton said.
Artworks by prison inmates at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
04/12/2025
SBS launches Future Frames initiative to support emerging First Nations video ed...
04/12/2025
Coronal mass ejections caused by eruptions on the surface of the sun can have fa...
04/12/2025
Gracenote Content Connect enables media ecosystem to precisely align ad campaigns and programming based on rich content signals
NEW YORK - December 4, 2025 - N...
Inmates work on a mural as part of a Project PAINT art workshop at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego. | Photo: Peter Merts. 
