OPAC Update 

January 22, 2021 Newsletter

“You can always educate yourself. You can always develop yourself. You don’t need nobody to tell you, you know, hey, work on you. Use that time that you’re sitting down to work on yourself, so when you come home you will be, you know, an asset to the community” -Sheirra Haines from the January 13 episode of Radio OPAC. Watch it here!

The image above is from the Story Chain initiative, which works with incarcerated parents to create high-quality recordings of themselves reading books for their children. You can watch our Radio OPAC interview with Jonathan Platt and Mary Evans of Story Chain here.

Please Participate in the OPAC Survey

As OPAC grows, we have discovered a need to understand who is a part of our network. If you can spare 5 minutes, please fill out our google form at this link. Thank you!

Radio OPAC

FREE! Professional Development Workshops

February 6 and 7, 10am-12pm EST

 

We are partnering with Wave Pool, a community arts center in Cincinnati, to offer a workshop to support artists in developing skills they can use to build a business and thrive. We want to make this FREE opportunity available to as many artists impacted by the justice system as possible. Please register, and share the opportunity widely!

Opera Columbus/Speedo Green Partnership

On Thursday, January 14, we facilitated a workshop video call between Ryan 'Speedo' Green, an opera singer doing a virtual residency with Opera Columbus, and participants from six Ohio prisons. Speedo is a world-class bass-baritone who, at age 12, was locked up in a juvenile facility in Virginia and labelled 'uncontrollable.' 12 years later, he was competing in a singing competition on the stage of New York's Metropolitan Opera - and he now travels the world performing and carrying his impactful story with him. His life story is the subject of a book called Sing for Your Life.

 

On January 14, altogether about 50 incarcerated men and women were able to ask Speedo questions about his story, his influences, his commitment to carrying on the legacy of Black musical artists, and his craft (which he likes to call 'educated yelling'). We are grateful for the support of Opera Columbus and DRC staff that made this possible, and are hopeful for even more possibilities for contact and collaboration through video call while we are in the pandemic!

In the News: 

1. Writers in Residence teaches creative writing to incarcerated youth and assists with re-entry. During the holiday season, they held a two week creating writing workshop at Medina County Juvenile Detention Center. Bob Finnan of The Gazette covered the program here. 

 

2. Making Time Artist Talks from MoMA PS1, New York: MoMA PS1 is hosting a series of artist talks moderated by Mary Enoch Elizabeth Baxter. The series is an accompaniment to the exhibit Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration. An upcoming talk is planned for February 4, from 12:00-1:00 PM. More information on this and other events can be found here.

Follow Us
Follow on Facebook
Follow on Instagram
Stay connected