Through a national project to expand arts programs in correctional institutions, the Houston Museum of African American Culture (HMAAC) has begun working with California Lawyers for the Arts (CLA) to bring arts classes to the Harris County Jail Women’s Empowerment Center. Classes began July 17, 2023. Through the “Arts in Corrections” project, CLA is adapting its successful strategy of building evidence-based demonstration projects to evaluate the benefits of arts programs in state prisons and county jails in Louisiana, New York, Michigan, Ohio, and Texas. Project funders include the National Endowment for the Arts, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and the Art for Justice Fund.

For Harris County, HMAAC Project Manager Danielle Finnerman forged a partnership with Inprint Houston, which has previous experience with arts education at the Harris County Jail, to provide both art and writing courses at the new Harris County Jail Women’s Empowerment Center. In addition to Finnerman, artist Henry Membreno and writer Mathew Weitman will provide instruction.

According to CLA Director Alma Robinson, “We were looking for a strong partner to enter into Texas, and HMAAC, of course, with its considerable community experience was an obvious choice.” HMAAC worked previously with CLA in 2018 as part of its Ford Foundation “Arts for Justice” grant, in which the Museum was one of eight venues for statewide conferences that included state representatives, state arts organizations and incarcerated prisoners support groups. HMAAC CEO John Guess, Jr. agreed this project was an easy decision. “Given that we had worked previously with CLA with national success,” he said, “that we had completed a successful mural project with the Harris County Jail earlier this year, along with the Museum’s desire to positively impact the local correctional environment, this project was a no-brainer.”

Working with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) earlier this year, HMAAC installed an indoor message mural at the County Jail’s new Women’s Empowerment Center’s in February. The Visitor Visitation Room mural, based on a work by artist Zsavon Butler, was managed by muralist and HMAAC Project Manager Danielle Finnerman. For HMAAC, the transformation of the Center’s visitation room from the previous yellow walls into a space where visitors encounter a more colorful and positive messaged environment can possibly change the nature of discussion between incarcerated women and their visitors. The Museum wants visitors, and not just the incarcerated, to see this new rehabilitation facility for its possibility to help forge better inmate futures. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office agreed, and HMAAC is proud of this noteworthy effort to create positive behaviors in a novel rehabilitation space.

HMAAC Project Manager Danielle Finnerman, who spearheaded the implementation of both projects, remains a strong voice for correctional rehabilitation; “Art is a wonderful way to build confidence in those who create it, and I’m thrilled that through CLA and HMAAC, and in partnership with Inprint, we are are able to do our part to make this exciting new Women’s Empowerment Center a rehabilitative life changer for those who are currently incarcerated.”