Statistically, the more education an inmate receives while incarcerated, the less likely they are to return.
And that, in part, is the goal of a photography class taught by Greenfield Community College Professor Joan O’Beirne in the women’s unit at Franklin County Jail and House of Corrections.
“It’s a real intent of the jail to try and make sure there are ways in which the jail is providing the people there … the tools so they don’t return,” said Steve Hussey, president of the center’s Board of Directors. Hussey formerly served as an education instructor at the county jail.
Throughout November, the work of the six women enrolled in O’Beirne’s summer 2022 session will be on display at Artspace Community Arts Center.
The exhibit, Inside Art VI: Photography from Inside, calls attention to the millions of people incarcerated, on probation or parole in the United States. This show, in particular, which came together in collaboration with Working Assumptions – a photography teaching program by Greenfield native Alice Proujansky – features images and words on the subject of family, personal struggles and the challenges of life inside, and the passage of time.
“I’m helping people with their own voice,” O’Beirne said. “Everyone has a story to tell. Everyone has something on their mind, something they want to say. There are a lot of people who are not encouraged to get that out, and I believe in the healing power of that.”
O’Beirne’s photography class grew from the Elm Street Think Tank, a group that until a recent hiatus has met regularly at the jail since 2013 to share creative ideas and work collaboratively on projects. Before then, O’Beirne had taken a sociology class at the jail, taught by Revan Schendler, comprised of both inmates and GCC students. When the class finished, O’Beirne and Schendler talked about the possibility of forming a new group that would continue to meet at the correctional facility.
From those early conversations arose Think Tank.
Since the program’s inception, its participants have produced three magazines of writing and art, and have contributed to five exhibits at Greenfield’s Artspace. O’Beirne now teaches a photography class in the women’s unit.
The women met in the library jail three days per week last summer for 2 ½ hours each day, learning digital photography, basic Photoshop skills and printing.
The exhibit, which opened Friday, features work that is a loose interpretation of the Working Assumption theme of family and work, O’Beirne explained.
“Having only spent a few days with this work, I find it all very relatable and touching,” said Logan Kinney, an intern for O’Beirne. Kinney is a GCC graduate who is currently auditing a GCC class while he prepares his own art portfolio.
Although the majority of class time took place in the library, a handful of classes took place in the garden outside. Permission to do that was a big deal in itself, O’Beirne said, and something she worked hard to get for the women.
“Going in there every week has made me realize how much myself and a lot of other people go into a situation and make a lot of assumptions about who these people are,” O’Beirne said. “I’m constantly throwing those assumptions out.”
And she hopes guests at this exhibit have a similar lesson to learn.
“Hopefully, they don’t judge,” she said. “There are artists who are incarcerated. There are poets who are incarcerated.”
Throughout the month of November, the gallery will be open Sundays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., Mondays and Thursdays from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., and by appointment. Appointments can be made by calling 413-772-6811.
Reporter Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne.