My dad is a musician. For a while, he played guitar and sang in a band called Lowest of the Low. When I was in high school, he left that band, started The Stephen Stanley Band, and began recording his first album on Wolfe Island, produced by Hugh Christopher Brown (Chris). Over the next couple years, I often heard Chris mention a non-profit he started called The Pros and Cons Arts Program. They’ve built multiple recording studios in prisons across Ontario. In the process, they have released four albums, written and recorded in prison. The vocals and instrumentals on each album are written and performed by inmates, with the help of mentors from across the country. 

Right before I started grad school at Seneca Polytechnic, I reached out to Chris and asked if he would be okay with me taking over their social media. I came in at a really good time. In the weeks following my start at The Pros and Cons Arts Program, The Bill Frisell Trio was doing a series of shows on Wolfe Island and at The Collins Bay Medium Institution. The Pros and Cons Arts Program was also in the process of partnering with a podcast called Prison Family. They released an 11 episode podcast series talking with and about people who’ve had their loved ones incarcerated, giving an essential point of view to the discussion. Needless to say, there was a lot for me to work with. 

The program I work with means a lot to me. I grew up watching my dad’s involvement in the music industry, it has given me a lot of the community I’m in now. I have a lot of first hand knowledge of the mental health support available within the creation of art, and I know mental health support is missing from the prison system in Canada. We have seen time and time again that improving the mental health supports people receive can drastically lower the recidivism rate. My following posts will contain interviews, breakdowns and facts that will hopefully show you why programs like this are so important, should be funded, and should be more widely available across Canada. As we move forward- think about what kind of people you want to be released from prison, and how we can collectively help reach that goal.

Do you want to learn more about The Pros and Cons Arts Program? Check out their website here.