Who We Are
The CCJDC Arts Project was created in September 2011 by Alex Moroz, a student in music education at the University of Illinois. After teaching music to adults at the Decatur Adult Transition Center and witnessing music's powerful impact, he started an arts education program at the CCJDC to give incarcerated youth similar experiences. Shortly after the program began, other educators, community members, and organizations recognized its value and expanded it into our project.
The University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign currently spearheads the CCJDC Arts Project. The College of Fine and Applied Arts created a service learning course called FAA391 JBN, "Arts Experiences for Incarcerated Students", which teaches university students to design and implement arts activities at the CCJDC. FAA391 JBN is led by Dr. Jeananne Nichols, as well as 8 undergraduate students and 2 graduate students.
The University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign currently spearheads the CCJDC Arts Project. The College of Fine and Applied Arts created a service learning course called FAA391 JBN, "Arts Experiences for Incarcerated Students", which teaches university students to design and implement arts activities at the CCJDC. FAA391 JBN is led by Dr. Jeananne Nichols, as well as 8 undergraduate students and 2 graduate students.
What We Do
We give our students opportunities to learn and engage with the arts, facilitate community involvement, and collaborate with other organizations and correctional contexts educators. Our teachers lead arts activities for 90 minutes each week, including activities in music, visual art, and drama. Each activity is designed to promote self-expression, strengthen identities, and build a sense of community, and they are peer reviewed to ensure that they will meet our students' needs.