LEARNING TO FLY
“Learning to Fly” was an exhibition lasting from April 26-May 3rd, 2022. With the goal of promoting awareness of art as a human right and artistic expression as a bridge between communities, SDSU's Arts Alive sponsored “Learning to Fly”— a PAC exhibition, SDSU dance performance, and panel discussion, all centered around Wallace Stevens’ poem “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.” This was a collaborative project between Prison Arts Collective participants and SDSU students.
Thank you Michele Burgess, Lecturer in Book Arts, SDSU School of Art and Design and Faculty Associate, Prison Arts Collective for organizing this beautiful exhibition!
The panel discussion explored the transformative and restorative power of creative expression. Panelists included Annie Buckley (moderator), Founder and Director of Prison Arts Collective; Michele Burgess, Lecturer in Book Arts, SDSU School of Art and Design and Faculty Associate, Prison Arts Collective; Jess Humphrey, Faculty Associate at Prison Arts Collective & Associate Professor of Dance, School of Music & Dance at SDSU; Alan Mobley, Executive Director, SDSU Center for Transformative Justice and Executive Director, SDSU Project Rebound; James Phillip, SDSU Student and Project Rebound Representative; and Corina Reynolds, SDSU alum and Executive Director, New York Center for the Book.
Learning to Fly also exhibited an expressive and unique dance performance by members of the University Dance Company, directed by Jess Humphrey, Associate Professor of Dance, School of Music & Dance, SDSU, and Faculty Associate of Prison Arts Collective. This dance was titled, “Just. Keep. Going.” and celebrated creative expression as a human right, highlighted the power of the arts to bridge communities, and embodied and responded to artwork from Prison Arts Collective participants.
