Cell Block Brushes: Art Therapy-Based Murals for Indigenous and Incarcerated Men in Federal Correctional Services (Pinceaux de bloc cellulaire : peintures murales fondées sur l'art-thérapie avec des hommes autochtones incarcérés dans les services correctionnels fédéraux). Issue 2 (10th November 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Whyte, Megan Kanerahtenha:wi
• Is Part Of: Canadian journal of art therapy. Volume 33:Issue 2(2020)
• Page Start: 54
• Page End: 61
• Publication Date: 2020-11-10
• Subjects: Art therapy -- Periodicals; Art therapy -- Canada -- Periodicals; 616.891656
• DOI: 10.1080/26907240.2020.1830572
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2690-7240

Abstract

Abstract: Facilitated by a Kanien'kehá:ka First Nations art therapist and framed by her cultural knowledge, this article explores the impact of co-creating two murals on the identity development, wellness and pro-social interaction for 32 Indigenous male participants within a Canadian Federal correctional institution. This project aimed to address the Indigenous overrepresentation within correctional systems and the potential impacts of colonization on crime, including addiction, trauma and other mental health conditions. By correlating court findings with research on cultural safety for Indigenous populations, this project suggested that healing the impacts of colonization and crime can be connected to cultural accessibility and multigenerational trauma awareness in sentencing and programming. As such, the following participatory mural making project was presented and delivered by and for Indigenous, incarcerated men. Bringing cultural knowledge, teachings from the land and drawing from the ancestral wisdom of the participants, the mural was created as a space to explore the interconnected web of relationships between the self, community and the land. The outcome of the experience seemed to suggest the importance of setting a therapeutic frame for mural making as well as the benefit of cultural access, symbolism and community building for Indigenous men within the correctional setting.