Welcome to the “Inside Out” art exhibition with work created by people who are incarcerated, often with mental health issues. 

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When mentally unwell people are alone for long periods of time with just their thoughts for company, art can work therapeutically, to allow them to express their feelings on paper and to keep them focused and busy. It raises their self-esteem and can often transform their lives. Many of the artists have led such dysfunctional lives that art is a way of rehabilitating them, by giving them feelings of achievement, confidence and self- worth through creativity that they may never have experienced.

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There are many ways our students are encouraged and impacted by the work they have produced themselves. The act of making art, written, drawn or otherwise can include all sorts of positive thought processes which can be motivating and rewarding for the person involved. For some, this may be the first time they have had the attention of artists and teachers, or indeed, given positive attention themselves. Alas for some, it may be the first time there has been any point in doing so. In confined conditions, there are no distractions from the individual’s problems at hand. What better way to tackle them, than through the positive processes that naturally happen within the creative art experience.