ABSTRACT
Since 2013, Prison Arts Collective (PAC) has provided multidisciplinary arts classes and arts facilitator training programs in the California prison system. As a collaboration between California State University campuses, incarcerated persons, artists, researchers, and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, PAC requires input from a variety of stakeholders to make its programming happen. This chapter discusses the process and challenges of conducting and evaluating arts programs in correctional settings, using the PAC experience as a case study. To start, we briefly overview PAC's history and development, including the programming and trainings that make up the core of its activities. Next, we discuss the permissions and approval process of initiating and running arts programming in correctional facilities, before delving into the research process, from Institutional Review Board (IRB) and other permissions needed to conduct research in a prison setting. We conclude with a discussion of future efforts in collaborative research and programming in prisons for PAC and similar programs.
