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Images from our programs, videos of our work in action, and AIYN in the media -- including articles by our youth advocates.

Note: The Arts for Incarcerated Youth Network became the Arts for Healing and Justice Network in September, 2020.

Images

Students at Camp Challenger, as the mural they created and painted is added to the Los Angeles Public Art records Photo Credit: Cam Sanders

Students at Camp Challenger, as the mural they created and painted is added to the Los Angeles Public Art records
Photo Credit: Cam Sanders

Unusual Suspects final performance at Dorothy Kirby Center

Unusual Suspects final performance at Dorothy Kirby Center

Street Poets Inc. culmination at Dorothy Kirby Center Photo Credit: Maira Rios

Street Poets Inc. culmination at Dorothy Kirby Center
Photo Credit: Maira Rios

Armory Center for the Arts mural at Barry J. Nidorf -- youth painting, and final mural dedication with Probation Chief Terri McDonald.

Armory Center for the Arts mural at Barry J. Nidorf -- youth painting, and final mural dedication with Probation Chief Terri McDonald.

Armory Center for the Arts mural at Barry J. Nidorf -- youth painting, and final mural dedication with Probation Chief Terri McDonald.

Armory Center for the Arts mural at Barry J. Nidorf -- youth painting, and final mural dedication with Probation Chief Terri McDonald.

With Art for Amnesty - AIYN dedicates Hope Center mural at Central Juvenile Hall. A youth artist explains his contribution to the group mural.

With Art for Amnesty - AIYN dedicates Hope Center mural at Central Juvenile Hall. A youth artist explains his contribution to the group mural.

Student transforms a solitary cell into a mediation room while Probation looks on. And after completion. Photo Credit: Cam Sanders

Student transforms a solitary cell into a mediation room while Probation looks on. And after completion.
Photo Credit: Cam Sanders

Student transforms a solitary cell into a mediation room while Probation looks on. And after completion. Photo Credit: Cam Sanders

Student transforms a solitary cell into a mediation room while Probation looks on. And after completion.
Photo Credit: Cam Sanders

Probation staff share their writing, and drum together at our hands-on arts engagement and training of probation staff at Barry J. Nidorf. Photo Credit: Maira Rios

Probation staff share their writing, and drum together at our hands-on arts engagement and training of probation staff at Barry J. Nidorf.
Photo Credit: Maira Rios

Probation staff share their writing, and drum together at our hands-on arts engagement and training of probation staff at Barry J. Nidorf. Photo Credit: Maira Rios

Probation staff share their writing, and drum together at our hands-on arts engagement and training of probation staff at Barry J. Nidorf.
Photo Credit: Maira Rios

Videos

Work created by young people working with Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory through AHJN.

Articles

Leisure Sciences JournalPHOTO COURTESY OF: Leisure Sciences: An Interdisciplinary Journal

Leisure Sciences Journal

PHOTO COURTESY OF: Leisure Sciences: An Interdisciplinary Journal

Leisure Behind Bars: The Realities of COVID-19 for Youth Connected to the Justice System

“Now is the time to challenge the traditional delivery of youth services to promote the well-being of young people in a pandemic.”

A young person in room confinement in Santa Cruz County Juvenile Hall. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING

A young person in room confinement in Santa Cruz County Juvenile Hall.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING

California Proposal Would Limit Teens’ Transfer to Adult Jails

“It’s way harder to try to obtain the services or programs or help you might need because you’re scared,” Rodas said. “As a teenager in juvie, you’re able to ask to talk to a therapist or a psychiatrist, but now you’re an adult, and those types of things aren’t there anymore.”

Arts for Healing and Justice Network executive director Kaile Shilling speaks with one of the youth at Campus Kilpatrick during the Create Justice forum.PHOTO COURTESY OF CREATE JUSTICE/MAIRA RIOS

Arts for Incarcerated Youth Network executive director Kaile Shilling speaks with one of the youth at Campus Kilpatrick during the Create Justice forum.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CREATE JUSTICE/MAIRA RIOS

Art and justice reform advocates from around the country visit LA County's Campus Kilpatrick

More than 120 artists and advocates from around the country gathered in Pasadena this week with the goal of developing a national plan for juvenile justice reform – one that both utilizes the restorative and healing effects of the arts, and incorporates the ideas of youth impacted by the justice system.

Breaking the mold – juvenile justice takes new form

Two big movements — the efforts to improve the juvenile justice system and to expand access to the arts and arts education — are coming together in Southern California, where the Los Angeles County Probation Department has dedicated $1 million to support the arts for system-involved youths. Officials say their "L.A. Model" will prioritize restorative justice and rehabilitation over the more rigid, traditional idea of corrections. 

Students take part in a drumming class at Camp Afflerbaugh, a juvenile detention facility in La Verne, on Wednesday afternoon, May 4, 2016. The class is put on by the Rhythm Arts Alliance and Arts for Incarcerated Youth Network.MAYA SUGARMAN/KPCC

Students take part in a drumming class at Camp Afflerbaugh, a juvenile detention facility in La Verne, on Wednesday afternoon, May 4, 2016. The class is put on by the Rhythm Arts Alliance and Arts for Incarcerated Youth Network.

MAYA SUGARMAN/KPCC

Creating a pathway from juvenile camps to careers in the arts

Growing up in Highland Park, Johnny Ortiz always wanted to be an actor, but he had no idea how to get started. 

At the age of five, he recently recounted, he called 4-1-1, asking for advice. The operator gave him a phone number.

"I called the number but it was a false number," he said. "I guess she just didn't want to break my dreams, you know?"

When some girls want to take a break from the mural, Nery Gabriel Lemus, a teaching artist with the Armory Center for the Arts, gives them tips on drawing. (Dan Tuffs/KPCC)

When some girls want to take a break from the mural, Nery Gabriel Lemus, a teaching artist with the Armory Center for the Arts, gives them tips on drawing. (Dan Tuffs/KPCC)

Young Inmates Help Turn Solitary Confinement Cells Into Art Spaces

Green paint covered tattoos on the girls' hands as they worked on the mural.

At Camp Joseph Scott, a juvenile detention center in Santa Clarita, five girls worked on the wall -- some standing, some crouching -- their arms occasionally crisscrossing as they painted the nature scene.

"I find it like a meditating type of therapy," said Anaceli, 17, who was five months into a seven-month sentence. (We're not using last names to protect the identities of the minors).

"It actually distracts your mind from being where we actually are for a couple of hours," she said. "So that's why I like coming here."

Edson Ramirez, 18, is a youth advocate with the Arts for Healing and Justice Network. Photo: Jeremy Loudenback

Edson Ramirez, 18, is a youth advocate with the Arts for Incarcerated Youth Network. Photo: Jeremy Loudenback

For Youth in Lock-Up, Family Connection is Key

I was locked up for a year, just after I turned 17. I was at three juvenile halls for about six months and then at a juvenile camp for about five months. I was sentenced for robbery.

It was my first time ever being locked up or being part of any criminal case. People were telling me ‘Oh, it’s not going to be that bad, it’s your first time.’ I thought I was going to be in and out. But I ended up staying at LP [Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall] for five months while they worked on my case.

The biggest issue I really had when I was locked up was being able to see my family. After being at juvenile halls, I was sent to [Los Angeles County’s Campus] Kilpatrick, which is in Malibu. Visitations there only happen on Sundays.

An important shift on youth justice in L.A. County

We call ourselves million-dollar youth, because Los Angeles County spent at least that much on arresting, prosecuting, detaining and supervising us. A million dollars is a lot of money. And we think we’re worth that, but taxpayers didn’t get their money’s worth.

Arts for incarcerated youth network, draper richards kaplan foundation feature

Across the country, a groundswell of groups and individuals is pushing for change in the juvenile justice system, especially toward creating a coordinated juvenile violence prevention/youth development strategy. Arts for Incarcerated Youth Network (AIYN) is at the center of this movement, using the arts as a strategic tool to heal trauma, empower young people to share their experiences, reduce/prevent their involvement with the criminal justice system, and raise public awareness.

Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute and Arts for Incarcerated Youth Network Continue to Advance New National Initiative Focused Exclusively on the Arts and Youth Justice

Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute (WMI) and the Arts for Incarcerated Youth Network (AIYN) will bring together a cross-section of more than 100 arts and justice leaders from across the U.S. on September 25-26, 2017 in Los Angeles for the second of three national Create Justice forums focused exclusively on arts and youth justice. Create Justice is designed to generate a national network of thought leaders dedicated to fostering creative strategies to work toward justice reform through opportunities in the arts.