Macon Youth Detention Center, Macon, GA - "Visualize Your Potential" 90' x 15'

University of Indiana Kokomo to Begin Study on Art as Therapy at Logansport JDC

Just remember ladies and gentleman… The Emanuel Project was on this 4 years ago and has been preaching this message since 2011! We look forward to the results!

Here is a note from the superintendent of the Logansport Juvenile Correction Facility in Logansport, IN

Look at the Emanuel Project impact!
Please see the below!
Thank you!
Lori

From: Harshbarger, Lori
Sent: Friday, March 11, 2016 11:48 AM
To: #DOC All LJCF Staff
Subject: Article about LJCF and IUK

Wayne Madsen, Erik Deerly, and Jeffery Batis.
Professors receive grant to study art therapy
people

March 10, 2016
KOKOMO, Ind. — Can paint and canvas help teens recover from drug addiction and stay out of jail?
Three Indiana University Kokomo professors plan to find out, starting an art therapy program culminating with a public exhibit for young men in the Logansport Juvenile Correctional Facility.
Jeffery Batis, assistant professor of psychology, Erik Deerly, assistant professor of new media, and Wayne Madsen, assistant professor of new media, received a New Frontiers in the Arts and Humanities grant from IU. They will use it to fund art supplies and materials for exhibitions at the campus Art Gallery and the new Union Street Art Gallery, in downtown Kokomo.
“This is a means to draw positive attention to a problem that is currently a serious public health issue in Howard County,” Batis said. “It equips the juveniles with a means to express themselves that does not involve returning to their previous addictions. Our students have the opportunity to provide a positive, meaningful experience to young men who are generally underserved.”
About 15 IU Kokomo students will mentor 30 teens from the correctional facility, working with them an hour each week to create artwork around the theme of addiction. The completed work will be displayed in an exhibition in the campus art gallery in August, before moving to the downtown gallery in September. The exhibit also will include art created by IU Kokomo students, as well as Deerly and Madsen.
“It’s a way for the young men to give back to the community in a way that is constructive and meaningful,” said Batis. “For our students, preparing for the art show gives them a first-hand opportunity to see how art can be used to help people recover from psychological disorders, such as addiction.”
They also plan to have guest speakers with expertise in addiction and other related programming during the downtown exhibition.
Faculty will assess the impact of the art therapy and exhibition program with surveys of IU Kokomo and correctional facility participants. Batis said the Indiana Department of Correction tracks recidivism rates from three years after release, and will evaluate those rates, as well as drug use history, for the teens.
Planners hope to sell artwork created for the show, and use the funds generated to continue the program and host another show in 2017.
IU’s New Frontiers in the Arts and Humanities grant program supports faculty in the initial stages of path-breaking and transformative programs of scholarship investigation or creative activity.
Batis said the creative process is considered to be part of the healing process, so developing artwork related to addiction can help the juveniles understand their pasts, the reason they ended up in the correctional facility, and assist them in their desires to improve their lives.
“We hope the positive relationships will decrease the likelihood they will return to prison later in life,” he said.
Indiana University Kokomo serves north central Indiana.

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