Indigo Arts Alliance‘s 2021 Summer Mentor Artist in Resident, Carl Joe Williams conducted a hands-on, in-person workshop with Maine Youth Justice participants that examined the tools of liberation and aided us in creating new visions for healing and growth. Carl used prompts such as “What are the tools of liberation?”, “What does rehabilitation look like?”, and “How do we address trauma and the effects of post-incarceration syndrome in order to heal?” to guide the session in drawing, collage, writing, and painting with the assistance of Indigo Arts Alliance’s 2021 Summer Mentee Artist in Resident, Eamon White. In addition to the hands-on creation, there was a film room set up where participants were invited to record their responses to the prompts. All material captured during the session will culminate in an exhibition in the Spring of 2022 at the Institute of Contemporary Art at MECA.

Ten days later, Indigo Arts Alliance hosted a public virtual artist talk with Carl Joe Williams discussing his journey as an artist and the key role art plays in social movements. Watch a recording of it here.