Children’s Prison Arts Project (CPAP) was developed in 1994 by Birgit Walker, Melissa Thibodeaux, and Mario Jose Olvera as a non-profit project in Houston's West Dallas Juvenile Detention Center. The program was organized with the intention of providing a constructive way for at-risk youth housed in the facility to express themselves through the arts. The program later was expanded to serve juvenile offenders in several other facilities in the area including the Burnett-Bayland Home and the Tejas Home for Youth.
In an eleven year period, CPAP’s programs served more than 11,000 such youths and their families. Local sponsors for the program included the Brown Foundation, the Cultural Arts Council of Houston and Harris County and the Houston Endowment Fund.
As of 2004, the Children's Prison Arts Project is still in existence.
The collection consists of documents extending from 1994 through 1998. There are also photographs and sound recordings of performances from 1999 through 2002. The Children's Prison Arts Project performance sound recordings make up the bulk of the collection.
The collection is divided into three parts. The first part addresses the program's development, history and information on its founders. The second portion of the collection is comprised of operations records and community response. The third component addresses the works of the program participants, referred to as students hereafter, themselves.
None.
None.
Children's Prison Ars Project. Houston Metropolitan Research Center, Houston Public Library.
Donated by: Birgit Walker.
Processed by: Charles Stephenson, June 2006.
Performance
Performance 2001
Performances 2001
Performance December 10, 2001
Background music by Sky Feather. Performance January 13, 2002
Performance January 28, 2002
Performance April 22, 2002