MPWW fosters literary community and a devotion to art inside Minnesota correctional facilities through high-quality creative writing classes and related programming. During incarceration and throughout reentry, MPWW empowers writers, challenges stereotypes about the incarcerated population, and promotes a vision of rehabilitation and restorative justice through art.

Each year, WAAC is honored to document MPWW’s Beyond Bars, a public reading of student work at Hamline University, where audience members are invited to write feedback to the artists, affording a rare opportunity to communicate across prison walls.

More @ mnprisonwriting.org

We Resolve is a nonprofit organization that stands with and supports loved ones, their families, and communities as they go through the criminal legal process, in order to tip the scales of justice towards community healing and away from a harsh discriminatory punishment system.

They seek to educate loved ones and community members about this process and empower them to be strong participants in their own defense and advocates for real change in the criminal legal system.

WAAC takes pictures of individuals and their families for their social biographies, and of the organization to celebrate and elevate their work.

More @ We Resolve

WAAC is proud to partner with, document, and learn from T.O.N.E. U.P. (Teaching Ourselves New Examples to Uplift People), a non-profit organization driven by the expertise of justice-impacted Black and Brown community members. Their mission is to empower fellow justice-impacted individuals through holistic re-entry services and inclusive democracy engagement.

More @ toneup.org

The photo above is of core members of the Coalition, posing in front of a WAAC + MPWW exhibit at the Hennepin Theatre Trust’s sidewalk gallery.

Until We Are All Free is a human rights organization led by formerly incarcerated criminal justice experts. We focus on building capital, resources and support to provide pathways to civic and economic liberation for individuals disenfranchised by mass incarceration.

Get involved and support at Until We Are All Free

MNJRC is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to driving meaningful change to Minnesota’s criminal legal system through rigorous and community-centered research, education, and policy development.

WAAC has documented MNJRC’s community meetings and annual conferences, and created portraits for staff, collaborators, and various report participants.

More at MNJRC

More background info at fmlr.org

The Legal Rights Center’s mission is to work with communities to seek justice and promote racial equity for those to whom it has been historically denied. 

They do this through criminal defense, restorative practices, legal education, and advocacy.

For more info, please visit LRC

CIC works to support legal and policy changes and innovative programs based on research to advance the rights, welfare, and opportunities of children experiencing parental incarceration. Their family program brings free summer camps (pictured above) and enrichment to youth who have been affected by a parent’s incarceration — past or present.

More @ Children of Incarcerated Caregivers

The mission of All Square’s Legal Revolution is to transform the law through a series of legal initiatives that center wellness, racial equity, and the expertise of those most impacted by the law.

Working alongside so many across the country who are committed to a legal discipline that is wholly representative, TLR’s work is anchored by two arms: a Prison to Law Pipeline Program and a Law Firm.

Learn more about the organization and about three students studying law from behind bars (Maureen, Jeff, and Lennell, photographed above) at TLR

Mission 29:11 Reentry exists to enable healthy reentry by men and women returning from prison by providing one-on-one mentorship, efficient access to outside resources, and a welcoming community.

The vision for the reentry organization was developed behind bars and is based on a biblical verse, Jeremiah 29:11.

For more info, visit Mission 29:11

In September 2020, Criminal Justice and the Arts Commission, together with photographer Emily Baxter and artivist Soteria Shepperson, created Our Lens, Our Voice, where justice-impacted youth used photography and poetry to create a series of anonymous photographs using meaningful words and phrases as prompts. All cameras and supplies were provided, thanks to the generosity of community members. The exhibit will feature the final photographs together with named emotional experiences by each participant.

For more, visit the Orange County Arts Commission

1DAAT was created to fill a void in critical housing education: 1DAAT’s foundation is holistic housing education – that inspires participants and creates profound understanding in how to find success in their housing.

More info here.