Feature Image: Reimagining Myself® workbook cover created by artist Sarah Corley.
This fall, RTA is proud to launch Reimagining Myself® at two New York State women’s correctional facilities—Albion and Taconic—marking a powerful step forward to ensure women have access to the same transformative opportunities that have already made a profound difference for men.
Listening First: Building a Program Around Women’s Voices
From its beginnings, Reimagining Myself® (RM)—Rehabilitation Through the Arts’ (RTA) signature reentry program—has been grounded in one belief: transformation begins with self-understanding.
When RTA launched the first RM pilot for men in 2020, it confirmed what the organization had long known—that creative expression helps people rediscover who they are and imagine who they can become. This fall, that vision expands.
Developed under the leadership of Kate Kenney and supported by Dawn McDonald, RM Managers and Curriculum Co-Authors, this ten-week, arts-based, trauma-informed reentry program deepens RTA’s mission to use the arts as a catalyst for rehabilitation, connection, and community reentry.
The women’s version of RM began with listening. Kate and the RTA team interviewed both currently and formerly incarcerated women across the country, asking about their hopes, fears, and what they most needed during reentry. Their stories shaped the adapted program almost in its entirety.
Through those conversations, clear themes emerged: the struggle to reclaim autonomy after years of confinement, the pressure to resume caretaking roles immediately upon release, the weight of unaddressed trauma and shame, and the deep desire for connection, creativity, and joy.
“We thought maybe 12 or 13 of the 20 sessions would overlap with the men’s version,” Kenney explains. “But once we started listening to women, we realized we’d need to rebuild almost everything. In the end, only three sessions carried over. The rest are completely new.”
What resulted was a curriculum centered on women’s emotional realities. Each session uses art—writing, performance, and visual expression—as a tool for reflection and growth. Participants learn to identify emotions, set healthy boundaries, and envision the lives they want to lead after release.
What Makes Reimagining Myself® Different
Unlike many state-mandated reentry programs focused on job readiness or paperwork, RM explores the social and emotional dimensions of reentry—the foundation for lasting success.
“It’s not just about teaching someone how to get an ID,” said Kenney. “It’s about helping them understand who they are and how to bring their best self into every space they enter. Because real reentry isn’t only about leaving prison—it’s about reentering your own life.”
Participants meet twice a week over ten weeks in 90-minute sessions led by justice-impacted facilitators—people who have lived through reentry themselves. These facilitators guide, model vulnerability, and co-create the learning experience alongside participants.
Facilitators complete 25 hours of training that includes trauma-informed care, emotional regulation, and self-care. Regular check-ins and mentoring ensure they are supported as they help participants heal and grow.
RTA designed RM to be evaluated both rigorously and humanely. Participants complete anonymous reflections after each session, allowing the team to assess individual growth and curriculum effectiveness. These insights—along with facilitator reports—are analyzed by researchers at the University of Connecticut at New Haven to measure changes in confidence, self-awareness, and readiness for reentry.
This ongoing evaluation helps RTA refine the program continuously, ensuring it remains responsive and impactful.
Reimagining the Future
More than a series of workshops, Reimagining Myself® creates space for healing. Through creativity and dialogue, women reconnect with their sense of agency and practice empathy, communication, and self-acceptance—the foundations of strong communities.
The program reminds us that behind every prison wall are human beings—mothers, daughters, sisters—each with complex emotions, regrets, and hopes. Reimagining Myself® honors that humanity, offering a path not just toward reentry, but toward personal renewal.
“There are real human beings with complex emotions and experiences inside,” shares Kenney. “Any one of us could be there, under different circumstances. The arts remind us of that shared humanity.”
This launch marks more than a program milestone—it represents a cultural shift in how we define reentry. True rehabilitation goes beyond practical skills; it begins with self-awareness, reflection, and creative exploration.
With this expansion, RTA continues to prove that the arts are a powerful force for change—unlocking resilience, connection, and possibility both inside and beyond the walls.
As the first cohort of women begins the journey, they are not simply preparing to reenter society–they are reimagining themselves and their futures.
Reimagining Myself® (Women’s) launches this October at Albion and Taconic Correctional Facilities, marking RTA’s expansion to eleven sites across New York State.
To support RTA’s reentry and arts-based rehabilitation programs please visit rta-arts.org/donate.
