About DU PAI
Creativity Meets Community
The DU Prison Arts Initiative generates creative and collaborative learning experiences that enrich the lives of incarcerated people and shift the conversation about prison. We create high-quality therapeutic arts programming across Colorado. Our work empowers individuals to improve the quality of their lives and prepare to make positive changes in their communities upon release.
Our Values
At the DU Prison Arts Initiative, we're dedicated to serving the public good.
- We provide therapeutic and educational creative arts programming to incarcerated people and their families in Colorado state prisons;
- We facilitate dialogue and storytelling between incarcerated people and their communities via exhibits, performances, media and commissioned works;
- We create caring communities for students characterized by learning, creative expression and authentic human connection;
- We deliver shared, arts-based learning experiences to incarcerated people, correctional staff and DU students;
- We engage leadership of incarcerated people in the development and delivery of programming;
- We offer training and consulting on the use of the arts to liberate people and transform spaces in correctional settings;
- We conduct rigorous research to examine the impact of the arts on personal and social narratives of crime, incarceration, harm and healing.
Stay up to date on the latest performances, events and programming from DU's Prison Arts Initiative.
