PARTNERS
IN
CRIME

The idea for this project is to illustrate the impact of the absence of art in the education system leading to the contribution of mass incarceration, specifically in the African American communities. I believe that due to this lack of art education, the African American community is prone to indulging in criminal behaviors and have a lack of interest in school. I also believe there are many people in the African American community are influenced through the arts as it relates to a core element in the African American culture. Historically, the arts is an important factor in the African and African American culture. I intend to find research studies that compare the productivity rate of African American students in their community school systems without an art programs versus the schools in those communities that do. Then, I will compare the productivity between the African American school communities art programs to those of their counterparts school communities art programs. Even for those incarcerated, studies have shown that art programs in correctional facilities have given inmates the ability to become more productive and have shown an increase in the feeling of being more constructive.