The ASU Gammage-supported Journey Home offers sustainable arts programming in correctional institutions

My life. My story. My sister. Myself. 

Fourteen voices chanted these lines, hands clapping and feet pounding on carpet inside the repurposed chapel of Estrella Jail in Phoenix on Saturday afternoon.

Those fourteen voices came from female inmates, the participants in the ASU Gammage-supported program Journey Home, an arts experience for incarcerated women. The program consists of three weeks of workshops and a final performance chosen by the women and program director Fatimah Halim and choreographer Teniqua Broughton.  

In its 19th year, the program varies in each iteration, adapting to its participants. On Saturday the performance resembled a confessional of sorts: Women stood in small groups with their backs turned, then turned one-by-one to face the audience and share a personal experience, asking not for sympathy or reaction, only listening. The stories included the birth of a grandson, addiction, gambling, childhood sexual abuse and the loss of a loved one.

Video by Deanna Dent/ASU Now

“I’ve struggled with heroin addiction for the last nine years so this is the longest I’ve been sober, going on six months,” she said.  “I’ve never been able to open up about it so through this program I did that.”

Brenda arrived at jail to find out she was five weeks pregnant. She confessed that she found herself overwhelmed by the support and help of her fellow female inmates. She described how the women surprised her with a baby shower, managing to make paper rose decorations and create baby games they could play. She has since had her child, whom she may not see for several years. 

“Participating meant having to go through the rough emotions that we were trying to shelter ourselves from,” she said. “It was like a counseling session helping us work through things that we had become professionals at burying.”