GROUNDSWELL

“Justice Mandalas” Groundswell © 2013. [image description: two men facing left are painting a mural in an interior, it is abstract with geometric forms in blue purple pink and red]

Groundswell’s restorative programs serve marginalized young people involved at all stages of the criminal justice continuum. Groundswell’s mural residency program for incarcerated youth is the centerpiece of their restorative justice offerings and enables Groundswell’s professional artists to work with young people onsite at public high schools located within juvenile detention facilities. With support from the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation in 2014-2015, Groundswell engaged incarcerated youth in the creation of two murals onsite at Rikers Island and two murals at Passages Academy schools at the Belmont and Crossroads Juvenile Detention facilities. Through their alternative sentencing program TurnStyle, youths arrested for minor offences fulfill their community service requirements working alongside Groundswell artists onsite at our main studio. Youths who graduate from the TurnStyle program then transition to Segue, in which they are invited to participate in the creation of a public art project. With support from the Foundation, Groundswell’s Segue team created a mural panel series for the Midtown Community Court.

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