Beyond Bars project is a transformative program for women inmates at the Women’s Community Correctional Center in Kailua, HI.  The project has been a volunteer effort on the part of Tadia Rice and myself endorsed by the prison administration and the inmates based on a 30 page proposal we made two years ago.  the multi-disciplinary project centers on the stories, images and performances of female inmates. It promotes community outreach and partnerships with organizations resulting in added qualitative value to the women’s recovery from trauma, substance abuse, and mental health issues.  The Women’s Community Correctional Center’s vision that their prison can be a “Puuhonua” (a sanctuary, a place of healing, and a place of transformation). These are the beliefs and values we embrace as we continue to try and establish a national program using the arts for healing. The portraits and a promotional video publicly introduce our project in order to seek funding. Some preliminary work has been done and the  portraits/videos are work-in-progress. They are all formatted to represent ­­­­Past/Present/Future and in the video as inmates tell their stories the same way.  Hekate/Hecate, the three faced Greek/Roman goddess of crossroads was the inspiration for the portraits.   The proposal concentrates on the marginalized population of women and we have contacts with prisons in other states to continue the ongoing work.
 

 

  • Beyond Bars
    Beyond Bars is a multi-disciplinary project with present and former prison inmates who are women. It involves photographic portraits, history, original videos and performances.
  • 4. Dion'e
    “Searching for Self” (completed)
The portrait of Dion’e, who is a vocalist and intersex woman, represents a psychological/ physical transition. She was wrongly accused, convicted, placed in an all-male facility and ended up in the hospital after being repeatedly raped. She nearly lost her life, but survived to tell her story.
  • Tiana (final04)
    “A Baby Having Babies”(work-in-progress) 
Falling into drugs after her first child at 13 years-old, Tiana tried taking the easy way out of her problems, but running from the law left her with two prison sentences and the loss of all her children. Wanting to fit in led down a dangerous path where she continues to serve her ninth year for an original five-year term. 

  • Tiana
    Tiana
    Tiana “Past, Present, Future” Photographic Print for Exhibition.The photographic portraits will be mounted in 30”x40” prints for a 
horizontal wall displays. A photographic collage of three images of the same face, in left to right
 profile, and the full face centered in between similar to mug shots. 
The inspiration is the bust of Hecate, the ancient Greek goddess of protection and is also known as the goddess of crossroads.
  • fili.jpg
    fili.jpg
    Fili “Past, Present, Future” Photographic Print for Exhibition
  • Fili's song
    Fili is a vocalist and one of eleven inmates who chose to share her story. She wanted to sing.
  • Ebony
    Ebony
    Ebony's portrait is representative of the prison population in Hawaii.
  • BEYOND BARS Public Performance
    The first public opening performance of “Beyond Bars: Prison Women Speak” was held on March 6, 2018 to a maximum capacity audience of inmates and persons from outside the prison. The hour-long show celebrated Black History Month
 and included a cast of 14 inmates, who had one month to create and rehearse their own one-hour show. The
celebration show included traditional West African dance, drumming, original and extant poetry, enactments of slavery,
historic moments of the Civil Rights Movement, songs, and multi-media presentations. 'Olelo television recorded the performances with three-cameras operated by inmate and professional crew.
  • Witness
    An edited section of a 9minute video on lynching in Maryland. The video was commissioned by the Reginald F. Lewis Museum in Baltimore and is part of an enclosed installation.
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