spark your creative podcast episode 22: creativity as a tool for healing in alternative settings

Art and creativity can be a source of self-care and healing for many of us and in a variety of places.  Many of us don't always think of how creativity can help heal others in alternative settings such a jail or prison setting.  

Enter Kelli Sincock, my guest for the latest episode of the Spark Your Creative podcast.  Kelli Sincock is an interdisciplinary artist and a volunteer art instructor located in Northern Virginia. She is the founder and organizer of Inspiration Matterz which is a volunteer-based program that brings formal art instruction to the incarcerated. She currently teaches art to both the male and female population at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center in Fairfax, Virginia and within the last two years brought her program to both the Alexandria Detention Center and The Friends of Guest House which is a transition home for women exiting prison.  Kelli finds great satisfaction in working with the inmate population from both an artistic and healing perspective. She is looking forward to growing her program to include juveniles in future programs.  

Kelli began her prison arts program with a sincere desire to bring her passion for fine art to an underserved community. Kelli feels strongly that art is valuable both from a rehabilitative and self-empowerment perspective. Her students find her program to be both psychologically and spiritually healing.

Kelli Sincock was the recipient of the 2018 “Volunteer of the Year” award for the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office at the “1 st Annual Faithful Servants Awards Ceremony” in Alexandria, VA. She was a 2018 award recipient of the Thomas J. Long Foundation Award for her work within prisons. Kelli Schollard-Sincock holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Art from The University of Washington and has been completing her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Printmaking at George Mason University.

During our discussion, we talked about how she get providing art classes  to the incarcerated, what has been the greatest rewards and challenges conducting these programs and advice for creatives who want to start something like this in their community.

You can learn more about Kelli Sincock at KelliSincock.com.  You can follow her on Instagram at @KelliSincock.  Learn more about the artwork that her students who are participants in her programs create by liking and following Inspiration Matterz at https://www.facebook.com/Inspiration-Matterz-781309155482203/

Theme music for Spark Your Creative podcast was created exclusively by DC area musician and songwriter, Melvin Rodgers: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/melvinrogers..  

Listen to the episode below on Soundcloud.  The podcast can also be found on Stitcher and Google Play.