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Creativity can sprout anywhere. Impressionist drawings of lush landscapes, water-colored paintings infused with Kool-Aid and coffee, and intricate and detailed portraits of celebrities are just a few of the dozens of art pieces that will be displayed at Public Space One’s “Art from the Inside Out” exhibition. The yearly offering from Inside Out Reentry Community (IO) is a rare glimpse into the creativity and resilience of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals across the state of Read more

Community members packed the Feb. 7 opening reception of the “Art from the Inside Out” exhibition at Public Space One’s Close House, giving me the feel-goods. I saw a woman I used to work with and met her mother; I saw friends and met their grandchild. Artists and their families were there, and it was the most class-diverse art show I’ve attended. It felt divine because I saw the Iowa City community as it is, Read more

Community members, educators, employers and others are encouraged to learn how individuals, after serving prison time, face a multiple challenges reentering the community and finding employment during a reentry simulation event held later this month. Inside Out Reentry Community, an Iowa City nonprofit, is holding the event from 1 to 3 p.m. on April 19, at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, 140 Gathering Place Lane, in Iowa City. During the first 90 minutes of the event, Read more

Five drawings by Shawn Lurkens are displayed as part of the “Art from the Inside Out” art show in Iowa City, but — like Lurkens’ dealings with the criminal justice system — none of them are finished. All of the artists whose art is displayed in the show — which runs through Feb. 16 at Public Space One in Iowa City — are people who have been or are still incarcerated in jails or prisons Read more