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Mission
ArtSpring, Inc. is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3), public charity
whose mission is to support self-growth and effective life
skills through art-making for underserved and institutionalized
women and girls. Since 1994, ArtSpring has served the needs
of women and girls representing a diverse ethnic, age and
racial demographic through its two principal programs:
Inside Out and Breaking Free. These interdisciplinary arts
programs incorporate movement, theatre games, writing,
drawing, music, story telling, meditation, guided imagery
and performance as transformational tools for self-reflection
and personal change.
History
Leslie Neal, Choreographer
and Associate Professor of Dance at Florida International
University (FIU), founded ArtSpring, Inc., formally known
as Leslie Neal Dance, Inc. (LND), in 1992. In 1994, the
organization’s focus began to increasingly shift
to community arts intervention programs that utilize a
combination of art forms in a thematically designed arts
curriculum. As a reflection of this change in program emphasis,
LND changed its corporate name to ArtSpring, Inc. in the
summer of 2000 to more accurately reflect its community-based
focus.
Arts in Community
ArtSpring is nationally recognized as one of several arts-based organizations
providing an arts-based educational curriculum to underserved
and institutionalized female adult and youthful offender
populations. Programming has expanded to juvenile and adult
correctional institutions, a residential facility for sexually
abused girls in the foster care system, and an adult residential
substance abuse treatment facility.
ArtSpring believes in the power of art
to transform individuals and communities. We believe
that each individual is inherently
creative and that social meaning and expression can be
found in every community. ArtSpring Artist
Facilitators work together with our program participants
to offer specifically
designed creative workshops that encourage participants
to re-connect to their own creativity, explore their
inner imagination and assist them in forming their own
creative
ideas.
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Diana,
Pinellas County Jail,
Inside Out Participant 2001
(Click
on image to enlarge)
“…I
walked into a group of people, of all races from many
different backgrounds, who together had formed a family.
I learned how to address my anger in positive ways.
I learned how to lift my spirits by just changing the
way I walked. Each exercise was a lesson on inner self
and I was taught so may things without even realizing
the lesson until it was pointed out to me…. I
found a place where I could be human again. Where I
could be myself and it was okay. I found a place where
I could work on putting myself together and forget
that I’m just a number. I’ve learned to
cry again. I now have hope and faith in society where
once I had none. If someone can volunteer to teach
me and others the things I’ve learned and continue
to learn, then I can truly believe that there is hope
for me, as well as society, because one day I will
be free again. I’ll become a part of society
once more. And thanks to Inside Out I will be a better,
healthier person.”
Kiki,
Homestead Correctional Institution,
Inside Out participant 2001
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