About AATI
Our Mission
AATI harnesses the power of arts and art therapy to elicit change for those inside carceral systems.
AATI serves as the crossroads where scholars, researchers, clinicians, students, corrections professionals, community members and the incarcerated meet to champion this mission together.
Arts in Prisons: Increasing Wellness, Decreasing Recidivism.
Historically, research has revealed that incarcerated people who take part in arts programming demonstrate a marked decrease in impulse, incident reports and recidivism upon parole, while also increasing their quality of life, socialization, communication skills and overall wellness. Taking advantage of the natural propensity for creating art by those within the correctional milieu, art therapy has been found to be especially beneficial for thise inside. It is particularly effective in helping those inside regulate control, promote anger management and mitigate neurological struggles due to brain injury, substance abuse and intellectual challenges all while not requiring that they verbally admit to such vulnerabilities and perceived challenges.
Resources
Articles
Check out these scholarly articles to learn more about the research supporting art in prisons and its impacts in the carceral environment.
- Transformation through negotiation: Initiating the Inmate Mural Arts Program. Argue, Bennett, & Gussak. (2009)
- Mitigating Over-Isolation: Art Therapy in Prisons Program During COVID-19. Barlow, Soape, Gussak & Schubarth. (2021)
- Editorial: Why Inmate # 62456L Doesn’t Speak: A Case for Alternative Therapies in Prison. Gussak. (2015)
- The effects of art therapy on male and female inmates: Advancing the research base. Gussak. (2009)
- The Effectiveness of Art Therapy in Reducing Depression in Prison Populations. Gussak. (2007)
- Investigation VS. Intervention: Forensic Art Therapy and Art Therapy in Forensic Settings. Gussak & Choen-Liebman. (2001)
- Art therapy in mitigating pervasive loss and grief within correctional settings. Hart, Gussak, & Schubarth. (2024)
- Expanding the IDEA: Ongoing and Evolving Evaluation of an Art Therapy in Prisons Program. Hart, Soape, Barlow, Torrech-Perez, Gussak, & Schubarth. (2023)
- Creative IDEA: Introducing a Statewide Art Therapy in Prisons Program. Soape, Barlow, Gussak, Brown, & Schubarth. (2021)
- Art Therapy in Prisons Program Exhibition: Implementation and Benefits. Soape, Barlow, Torrech Pérez, Hart, Gussak, Schubarth & Sumner. (2023)
Books
The books listed below are great resources to learn more about the impact of art in prisons.
- Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration. Fleetwood. (2020)
- Arts in Criminal Justice and Corrections: International Perspectives on Methods, Journeys, and Challenges.
- The Frenzied Dance of Art and Violence. Gussak. (2022)
- Art and Art Therapy with the Imprisoned: Re-Creating Identity. Gussak. (2019)
- Art on Trial: Art Therapy in Capital Murder Cases. Gussak. (2013)
- Cellblock Visions: Prison Art in America. Kornfield. (1997)
- Making Art in Prison: Survival and Resistance. Paul. (2023)
- Forensic Arts Therapies : Anthology of Practice and Research. Rothwell. (2016)
- Therapeutic Prison Art Interventions: Empirical Perspectives. Tucker & Luetz. (2025)
- Prisons of Creativity: Artistic Innovation During Incarceration. Whitman. (2024)
- Teaching the Arts Behind Bars. Williams & Alexander. (2003)
Partners & Affiliates
AKT Artful
Art from the Inside
Art the Hard Way
Creative Prisons Project
Dallas Art Therapy
Florida Prison Education Project
Institute for the Arts, Humanities and Social Justice
