Our Mission
RTA helps people in prison develop critical life skills through the arts, modeling an approach to the justice system based on human dignity rather than punishment.
“What you will see here tonight is entertainment, but what I see is rehabilitation.”
Brian Fischer, Former Commissioner, NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision
Our Values
About RTA
The US prison system is based on punishment. The problem is, it doesn’t work – more than half of people released from prison are back within three years. This revolving door breaks down families and communities and costs taxpayers billions.
RTA offers a better approach. Launched at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in 1996, RTA is a world leader in arts-in-prison programming. RTA teaches communication, collaboration, problem-solving, and other critical life skills through a unique mix of art forms. RTA works with professional teaching artists to lead year-round workshops in theater, dance, music, creative writing, and visual arts.
Reimagining Myself® is RTA’s reentry program, which prepares incarcerated people approaching release for the social and emotional challenges they will likely face when transitioning back to their communities.
The recent Oscar-nominated film SING SING, featuring Oscar-nominated actor Colman Domingo and RTA alumni cast members, is based on RTA’s theater program at Sing Sing Correctional Facility.
RTA’s ongoing success is dramatic: less than 3% of RTA participants return to prison within three years, compared to the national recidivism rate of over 60%. RTA members often pursue higher education after participating in the program. RTA members and facility staff have recognized a positive change in prison culture as a result of the program. Upon release, hundreds of RTA alumni are giving back to their communities, becoming social workers, advocates, academics and entrepreneurs.
To learn more about our work, ask questions, or provide support, please contact us.
How RTA Works
RTA’s program is dynamic and richly varied, incorporating a wide range of art forms, including theater, dance, music, creative writing, and visual arts. Led by a steering committee of incarcerated members at each facility, RTA offers customized curricula, ranging from a one session master class in jazz guitar to a year-long project of script and character analysis.
What ties these varied offerings together? Community.
RTA is not a drop-in activity. RTA is not about becoming a professional artist. RTA is a commitment to a community of peers that uses the arts as a tool to support emotional, social, and cognitive growth.
Two published evidence-based research studies have measured the effects of RTA. John Jay College of Criminal Justice and NYS DOCCS found that rates and severity of infractions within prison were significantly reduced among RTA participants, as compared to a matched group of non-participants.
A study conducted by Purchase College, SUNY and NYS DOCCS demonstrated that RTA is a catalyst for learning, with participants pursuing and completing more education after starting RTA, as compared to a matched group.
Why the Arts
The arts do not depend on academic education or other prerequisites—anyone can participate. The arts are experiential and non-judgmental—there is no one correct answer. The arts develop the ability to see the world from different perspectives, encourage positive risk-taking, and allow for the discovery of hidden skills and talents.
The arts provide a bridge toward development in other areas. Over 40% of men and women incarcerated in New York State prisons enter the system without a high school diploma. RTA builds the skills and confidence that motivate people in prison to pursue additional education that leads to success in the workplace—the ability to communicate, set goals, solve problems and work collaboratively.
RTA’s Skill Wheel to explores what the different art forms can teach and how those lessons impact the bigger picture of community, employment, and family for participants.
Who RTA Serves
RTA operates in 10 maximum and medium-security men’s and women’s New York State correctional facilities, and one facility in Jamestown, California.
There are nearly 2 million people incarcerated in the United States today. Mass incarceration in the US is rooted in institutionalized racism and barriers to economic and educational opportunities in underfunded and underserved communities.
The New York State prison population RTA serves reflects this national problem. 40% of incarcerated people in NY enter prison without a high school education. People of color are disproportionately incarcerated, with 75% of the prison population Black and Latino. In 2018, Black people made up 15% of the NYS population but 48% of the prison population. Although a small percentage of the total prison population, the number of women in prison has been increasing at a higher rate than men since 1980.
RTA operates in these facilities:
- Bedford Hills, maximum-security women
- Collins, medium-security men
- Fishkill, medium-security men
- Greene*, medium-security men
- Green Haven, maximum-security men
- Otisville*, medium-security men
- Sing Sing, maximum-security men
- Taconic, medium-security women
- Wallkill*, medium-security men
- Woodbourne*, medium-security men
- Sierra Conservation Center*, a state prison in Jamestown, California
*Facilities where Reimagining Myself® are or were conducted.