The Arts & Positive Change For Incarcerated Women

Upcoming Event



March 8th, 2008
Building Bridges: Women, Prison and the Arts
Trinity College, Hartford, CT



Through exhibits, presentations, panel discussions, and performances, this symposium examines the ripple effect of incarcerating women and the pivotal role of the arts as a catalyst for positive change.


Working Draft of the Symposium Schedule:

Opening Remarks: Speaker To be Announced 1:00 - 1:30

Keynote Panel Telling ‘Herstory’ through the Arts 1:30 - 2:45

Panelists - Jean Trounstine, Professor of Humanities, Middlesex Community College, Lowell, MA and author of Shakespeare Behind Bars; Rena Fraden, Dean at Trinity College, Hartford, CT and author of Imagining Medea; Rhodessa Jones and Theater for Incarcerated Women, Karen Oien, Deputy Warden York CI, Niantic, CT, Judy Dworin, Professor Dance and Theater at Trinity College, Hartford, CT and founder of Judy Dworin Performance Project

Discussants -- Stan Simpson, Hartford Courant Columnist and Robin Cullen, formerly incarcerated individual, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)

Break-Out Sessions (concurrent sessions) 3:00 - 4:00

Domestic Violence, a road to incarceration…

Panelists - Barbara Parsons, formerly incarcerated individual, winner of PEN American/Newman’s Own First Amendment Award, Lisa Holden, Executive Director, Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence and a CCSU professor (TBD)

Children of the Incarcerated, unintended victims…

Panelists -- Sami Jensen, Daughter of an incarcerated individual, Susan Quinlan, Executive Director Families in Crisis and Andrew Clarke, Executive Director CCSU Institute for the Study of Crime and Justice

Immigration, prisoners without a country…

Panelists - Pam Superville, formerly incarcerated individual, Job developer, PA Prison Society, Marela Zacarias, Artist, teacher, activist, Alexandra Dufresne, Senior Policy Fellow at Connecticut Voices for Children, Anne Gebelein, Professor of Modern Languages and Literature at Trinity College

Refreshments and Art Exhibit (Mather Gallery) 4:00 - 5:00
Community Partners in Action and Prison Arts exhibit of women’s work from York CI

LaResse Harvey, formerly incarcerated individual, performs Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou

Dinner (on your own) 5:00 - 6:30

Gathering of high school and college students focusing on student activism and mural project (Mather Hall)

Book signing with Wally Lamb (Lobby Austin Arts Center) 6:30 - 7:30

Performance of Time In* & talk back
with formerly incarcerated individuals
& performers (Austin Arts Center) 7:30 - 9:30


* The Performance of Time In
is a fundraising events to benefit, Interval House,
service provider for abused women and children
and the Education Programs at York CI.


Judy Dworin Performance Project is a company of performing artists who seek, on the stage and in the community, to innovate, inspire, educate, and collaborate as they engage in art-making rooted in the belief that the arts can be a powerful agent for cultural change. The Judy Dworin Performance Ensemble (JDPE) is now the core member and catalyst for the organization creating cutting edge dance/theater performance work of the highest professional quality; initiating movement-based multi-arts residencies in schools, correctional institutions and community centers (Moving Matters!) and taking the lead in the mentoring and service component (Artists Mentoring Artists) of the organization with the vision of artists helping other artists in the Greater Hartford Community.

Judy Dworin