Half a canvas, one shared story: How art is connecting incarcerated artists to the community
At first glance, it looks like an ordinary art class: paintbrushes, half-finished canvases, and teenagers debating colour and composition amongst themselves.
No one would ever guess some of the artists behind these works are incarcerated and creating them from inside federal institutions. The unlikely pairing is part of an ongoing partnership that is quietly reshaping how people think about correctional institutions, rehabilitation and the power of human connection.
This spring, students at Abbotsford Senior Secondary School in British Columbia once again collaborated anonymously with incarcerated artists at Pacific Institution and Mission Institution through the University of British Columbia’s Action, Reciprocity and Transformation (ART) & Justice project.
The concept is simple, but powerful. An inmate begins a painting inside the institution, creating the first half of a canvas based on a shared annual theme. The anonymous artwork is then transported by the UBC team to the high school, where a student in the school’s Art Activism class completes the second half.
A collaborative artwork created through the ART & Justice project, where an incarcerated artist began the painting inside a federal institution and a student from Abbotsford Senior Secondary School completed the second half.
Neither artist ever learns the identity of the other, yet together they create a single piece. Each participant also writes an anonymous artist statement explaining the inspiration behind their work; submissions are then carefully reviewed to ensure there are no identifying details or inappropriate content and that the project follows CSC and UBC guidelines.
This year’s theme, Art and Power, invited participants to explore how storytelling and artistic expression intersect with oppression, identity, resurgence and social change in Canada and abroad.
For the students, the project builds on classroom discussions about the Canadian criminal justice system, including Indigenous over-representation, mental health, harm reduction, and parole. For incarcerated participants, it offers something equally meaningful: the chance to contribute, reflect and be seen through something they have created.
That sense of purpose is something Sara Burroughs has witnessed firsthand. The Social Programs Officer at Pacific Institution has worked with the ART & Justice program since its early years and says creative programming often reveals sides of people rarely visible in a correctional setting.
“When someone reconnects with their creative side, whether through painting, carving, beading, or writing, you see a completely different energy,” she says. “It gives them meaning and purpose. There’s a shift in confidence and attitude.”
Over time, she has watched participants become more open, engaged, and self-assured.
“It’s about helping people feel seen, valued, and capable of something positive,” Sara says.
“When one of our men first started, he was extremely reserved. Over time, through taking art workshops and creative writing sessions, you could see his confidence growing. He started taking pride in what he was creating.”
That confidence, she says, matters in ways that extend far beyond the canvas. Participants have used artwork to reconnect with family members, start deeper conversations, and build more positive relationships with staff.
“In a prison environment, people are guarded for a lot of reasons,” she says. “Creative spaces can give them an opportunity to lower that armour a little.”
The program itself grew out of years of research and relationship-building. Kelsey Timler, one of the project leads and a postdoctoral fellow at UBC, and her colleague Helen Brown, began researching arts-based programming with federally incarcerated people in 2014.
They focused specifically on an initiative developed by Brian Lang, then a former warden at Mission Institution, called Work 2 Give. Brian believed meaningful activity could support rehabilitation and reduce institutional idleness.
Early projects for inmates included woodworking, gardening, and building toys and furniture that were later donated to the Tsilhqot’in Nation. When the pandemic shut down institutional access in 2020, the team was forced to rethink how the work could continue.
“When COVID hit, we were suddenly unable to enter the institutions,” Kelsey says. “We didn’t want to simply pause everything and wait for normal to return.”
Instead, the team began assembling and delivering high-quality art kits filled with sketchbooks, pencils, paints, and other supplies. Participants could keep their artwork or donate pieces back to the project.
Since August 2020, more than 800 art kits have been distributed to federally incarcerated people and individuals on parole across British Columbia and the Yukon.
“We know from both research and lived experience that prison is not good for mental health, even in the best circumstances,” says Kelsey. “We wanted people to have something meaningful to engage with.”
The response was immediate. Artwork, letters, and reflections began arriving back from participants. As restrictions eased, the UBC team conducted interviews to better understand what incarcerated artists wanted from the project moving forward.
“What we kept hearing was: ‘We want to share our art with the world,’” Kelsey says. “People wanted inspiration, community, and opportunities to contribute something positive.”
That feedback eventually led to the partnership with Abbotsford Senior Secondary School in 2023.
Since then, approximately 90 incarcerated participants across Mission, Pacific and William Head Institutions in B.C. have contributed to collaborative projects, while many others have taken part in workshops or received art kits. The initiative has also expanded to include monthly sessions in painting, self-portraiture, ceramics, and creative writing across the participating institutions.
Some of the project’s most emotional moments happen once the artwork leaves the institutions. After students complete their half of the canvases, the finished pieces are displayed in community exhibitions before eventually being returned to the institutions for internal art shows.
The inside institutional gymnasiums are transformed into temporary galleries, participants are able to walk through the exhibits and see how their artwork evolved beyond the walls. For them it is tangible proof that their voices, stories and creativity still have a place in the world.
“Watching the men walk into the gym and see their work displayed is incredible,” Kelsey says. “There’s this full-bodied joy from being seen as an artist instead of being reduced to the worst thing they’ve ever done.”
In recent years, some participants have also participated in escorted temporary absences to attend gallery openings in the community.
“One participant said he was terrified nobody would accept him,” says Kelsey. “Then he stood in a gallery surrounded by people thoughtfully engaging with his work. Experiences like that can fundamentally shift how someone sees themselves.”
An inmate artist, Brian, described the impact in this way:
“When we enter the space they have created, we can be our unguarded selves. They show us that there are people out there who care and want the best for us. We are not to be judged solely on our worst action or our worst day. We are still human beings.”
That sense of humanity remains at the centre of ART & Justice. This June, collaborative works from the 2026 project will be exhibited in community art shows in Abbotsford and Victoria before returning to the institutions for internal exhibitions.
For more information about this project, visit www.artjusticeresearch.org