Create: New Beginnings—Restoring Lives Through Art in Prison

Led by two to three volunteers, each two-hour workshop guides up to 30 participants through a biblically based group discussion, using art as a tool to explore topics like vulnerability, shame, emotions, pride, empathy, and forgiveness.

Since 2019, Create: New Beginnings has engaged 120 volunteers and Prison Fellowship staff to serve more than 1,500 women. Currently active in 12 states from Alaska to Florida, the program has 30 active workshops reaching more than 400 women each week. We have also partnered with the Salvation Army and are active in nine of their Adult Rehabilitation Centers.

Most recently, Prison Fellowship partnered with Tyndale House Publishing to make Create: New Beginnings available to women outside of prison. The book is set to release in November 2023.

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In-Prison Workshops

Women living in prison often feel isolated and alone. In general, they have much less communication with one another and fewer visitations with their families and spouses than men living in prison. We quickly began to realize that Create: New Beginnings would provide the safe space they need to discuss topics that are often taboo in prison culture, such as sources of shame and self-doubt. Create: New Beginnings also emphasizes the importance of healthy relationships and creates an environment where women can be open and vulnerable with one another.

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