National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance
Our aim is to ensure the arts are used within the criminal justice system as a springboard for positive change. Over 900 Alliance members deliver creative interventions to support people in prison, on probation and in the community, with impressive results. We support this transformative work by providing a network and a voice for all the talented and creative people who are committed to making great art with offenders.
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“Even five minutes before we started the performance their primary concern was not on the impending production, but a reassurance that we could begin work on another play next Friday.”
– Rowan MacKenzie on Macbeth in HMP Gartree
LATEST NEWS
Music programme helps young people get back on track after prison
The charity HDMT Music is set to publish findings from its music and resettlement project, One Spirit, which has reached 177 young people from three prisons over the past 12 months. One Spirit is now in its tenth year of work across HMYOI Feltham, HMYOI Cookham Wood and HMP Highdown. The project uses a framework of […]
New guide to evidencing arts and culture
The RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) has published The Cultural Learning Evidence Champion’s Handbook. This handbook is designed to make it easier not only to ‘do’ evidence and evaluation, but to love them, to become a champion for them and spread the good word throughout arts and cultural education.” […]
Writer reflects on making work with ‘real’ people
Luke Barnes, writer of The Jumper Factory (Young Vic theatre, 27th February – 9th March, tickets) – a new play developed in collaboration with men from HMP Wandsworth – has written an article for Exeunt Magazine titled Making work with ‘real’ people. In it, he reflects on how to ask “a group of people from a background […]
UPCOMING EVENTS
- All
- Member events
Sweatbox: a prison van in motion
From women’s theatre company Clean Break, immersive production Sweatbox is a theatre experience that takes place in a real prison van.
Belong
A new play from Clean Break’s Young Artist programme explores youth loneliness in London. Showing as part of Lyric Hammersmith’s Evolution festival.
Unchained Nights #3
Poet Lady Unchained hosts another edition of Unchained Nights – an artistic platform for artists with lived experience of the criminal justice system – at Artsadmin’s Toynbee Studios.
LATEST OPPORTUNITIES
Awarding those who support young people to manage conflict in their lives
Lighting the Fire is Leap‘s annual awards event that celebrates the young people, adults and organisations that excel at supporting young people to manage the conflict in their lives. Now in its seventh year, the event serves to celebrate and raise awareness of the incredible work being done in the sector; to build new relationships; […]
How are you finding the new education procurement system?
The National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance, Clinks and the Prisoner Learning Alliance (PLA) would like to hear about your experiences of using the new online procurement system for education services, also known as the Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS). We will use this to monitor how the DPS is working in practice, and feedback to Her […]
Submit an exhibition proposal
The Prisons Mission of the Churches Together in Westminster (CTiW) last year organised a touring exhibition of artworks by prisoners in St James’s Piccadilly, the Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church and St Martin-in-the-Fields; all churches with active congregations and high visitor footfall. The exhibition of paintings and sculpture – First Impressions: Portraits from Prison – was curated […]