Sociology lecture, art education lecture by Phyllis Kornfeld prison art in America - Prison Art Lecture


Prison Art Lecturer, Phyllis Kornfeld - internationally known expert on prison art offers a slide/lecture presenting powerful images and eloquent quotes that reveal this unseen subculture and illuminate the human faces of its inhabitants.
For booking information please contact phylkorn@bcn.net


—Criminal Justice -Sociology - Law and Society - Popular Culture

—Psychology - Education

— Art Education - Studio Arts - Art History - Art Therapy

Prisoners are human beings with the same potential for good as the rest of us. The evidence is this art - born in the penitentiary - art that challenges stereotypes of inmates. Kornfeld speaks from her personal experience with the artists, their processes, and the prison environment in which the work was created. She quotes men and women in institutions from county jail to death row. They are candid and insightful about their lives, their art, and their imprisonment.

Outsider art by Ronnie White
Ronnie White   Father Time   pen and ink

Lecture - Slide talk - Seminars - Panels

Selected past venues

Northeastern Ass.of Criminal Justice Sciences
New York State Art Teachers Conference
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Museum of American Folk Art
New England Association of Art Therapists
Edward Hopper Art Center
Brown University
Northeastern University
Pratt Art Institute
Boston College
San Francisco Art Institute
Trinity College
University of Vermont

Parsons School of Social Research
University of Wisconsin
Rivier College
Hampshire College
New College of California
California State University
University ofConnecticut
American University
Georgetown University
Temple University
Pennsylvania Prison Society
Harvard University
Queens College
Bowdoin College



Daniel Claster, Professor of Sociology, Brooklyn College.
 "I do what I can to help my students see prison inmates as individuals who aren’t that different from the range of people who aren’t in prison. Kornfeld’s presentation contributed to that purpose to a far greater extent than I can do in the ordinary didactic class situation."

Charles K Edgley, Head, Dept of Sociology ,Oklahoma State University.
 "The slide presentation, Cellblock Visions, keeps audiences enthralled with its social conscience, deep commitment to humanitarian ideals and unflagging sense of hope even under the most depressing circumstances imaginable. The art work done by prisoners is simply amazing, and Kornfeld’s ability to weave multiple themes makes her work appeal to a wide variety of disciplines."

David Byrne, "Talking Heads".
" In an America that is in the process of returning to the medieval idea of prison as a place of punishment and revenge, as opposed to places of rehabilitation and healing, here is a tiny ray of hope. Here is art that evidences deep and personal healing and lasting change."

phylkorn@bcn.net