"Creations of a Caged Bird: Volume 2" from Shining Light

Welcome to Shining Light’s presentation of “Creations of a Caged Bird: Volume 2”! For over 20 years, Shining Light has been going inside prisons and jails to bring a professional arts experience to incarcerated artists (and new artists) alike. With the onset of Covid-19 and lockdowns nationwide, our in-person work was put on hold, but we, along with our community inside, refused to be stopped.

This course features 10 original videos that were written by our incarcerated artists and produced by professionals on the outside. Through zoom and written correspondence, these pairs collaborated to bring a message of hope to thousands of incarcerated men and women who have since viewed these videos.

We asked our artists to be inspired by the following prompts: “Hope in Hardship” and “What I Wish You Knew”. What we received back included rap, poetry, dance, R&B, short films and more.

In this course you will:

• View all 10 original videos
• Answer a couple questions about each piece
• Reflect on how your personal experience relates to the themes presented by each video

We know it may be a new experience to watch a video and write about how it relates to your own life, so just remember, when it comes to interpreting art- there is no one way! If you need some additional encouragement, you’ll be hearing from members of the Shining Light team who have also experienced incarceration and now speak to you from the other side of their challenging journeys to release. Let’s get started!