The BackWall event is presented in partnership with nonprofit organization Healing Broken Circles, which provides opportunities for people touched by the justice system to heal, learn and thrive. The organization works to create new and unprecedented educational, artistic and transformative experiences through work steeped in the understanding that, in uplifting the voices, stories, talents, skills, expertise and purpose of people who are incarcerated and formerly incarcerated, we can promote equity, empathy and healthier communities for us all.

Join us for an evening of music, dance, stories and spoken word by artists deeply impacted by mass incarceration. The BackWall performers have experienced incarceration firsthand or are from communities most deeply impacted by mass incarceration.

When: Tuesday, April 9, from 4 to 6 p.m.
Where: TUC’s MainStreet Cinema, Room 2766

The event is open to all. Learn more and RSVP at Healing Broken Circles' Eventbrite page for the presentation. 

The Art Uncuffed presentation is made possible by funds from the Provost Office’s faculty award. Each year, the Office of the Provost allocates $80,000 to support team-based faculty development projects. 

The BackWall event was part of an award-winning proposal entitled “Disability, Accessibility, and Inclusion: An Innovative Health-Justice Collaboration and Analysis." This project seeks to advance inclusive health-justice partnerships among criminal justice and health scholars and proposes to collaboratively break boundaries to cultivate learning and create what’s next for incarcerated individuals with disabilities. The proposal was conceived by the project team of:

• Brittany Hayes, PhD (Associate Professor, CECH School of Criminal Justice): Hayes' research centers on the correlates, consequences and responses to victimization particularly among marginalized populations. Recent work has examined the consequences of victimization and reporting experiences among victims with disabilities. Outside her research, she advocates for inclusion in local schools.
• Samantha Boch, PhD (Assistant Professor, College of Nursing): A forensic nurse scientist with a clinical background in corrections nursing. Boch has been collaborating, volunteering or working with or in carceral settings since 2012. Most recently she had worked on a Department of Justice-funded program dedicated to incarcerated fathers and their children with Healing Broken Circles.
• Myrinda Schweitzer Smith, PhD (Executive Director, UC Corrections Institute): Smith has co-presented nationally and internationally on effective interventions, and served as a project director for over 300 projects involving program evaluation; the development and implementation of cognitive-behavioral programs for criminality, substance abuse, employment and sexual offending; and effective practices for community supervision and support. She serves and participates on advisory boards and professional organizations supporting the health and wellbeing of those working in and those impacted by the justice system. She is actively engaged in several projects that aim to transform juvenile justice and reentry practices to positively shape lives and create safer communities.

Featured image at top: The BackWall: Art Uncuffed presented by University of Cincinnati and Healing Broken Circles. Photo/provided.