Dear friends of Project PAINT,
As 2025 comes to a close, we are reflecting on the incredible creativity, vulnerability and connection that filled our classrooms and spilled out beyond the walls this year. One of our students recently shared with us in our class, “I feel connected to others and feel I can express myself openly which is not common in prison.” It’s moments like these that remind us of the impact of our work and why we are so grateful for your support.
This Year, Your Support Made a Difference!
In 2025 Project PAINT...
- Fostered meaningful creative growth. Participants built confidence, explored new techniques, and used art as a tool for self-expression, reflection, and connection.
- Expanded access to arts education. We delivered high-quality visual arts programming across seven yards at both RJD and CEN, offering instruction in painting, design, comics, and exhibition making to more than 100 participants.
- Invested in care-centered teaching and professional development. Our team engaged in specialized training, including consultation with an art therapist, to deepen the social and emotional learning components of projects and strengthen the supportive environment we bring to the classroom.
- Strengthened organizational capacity for long term impact. 2025 marked a major milestone with Project PAINT’s first full-time hire and the expansion of staff capacity with the addition of an Assistant Director. With this development we aim to build the internal capacity to sustain and grow our program.
- Connected participants’ work with broader communities. Project PAINT’s mission and the work of our participants reached new audiences through publications, exhibitions, and fairs including our first time at Other Places Art Fair (Los Angeles and Escondido) and Compressed Zine & Music Fair, our continued participation in San Diego Zine Fest and Oceanside Zine Fest, and a return to exhibiting inside of RJD as part of Second Chance Day.
As a small nonprofit, we rely directly on the generosity of our community that believes in arts, access, and justice. Your gift will help us sustain and grow throughout 2026.
With your help, we plan to:
- Expand curriculum offerings and deepen interdisciplinary approaches.
- Support more Teaching Artists with better tools, training, and resources.
- Grow our materials budget so that every participant has access to the supplies they need.
- Strengthen archiving efforts, ensuring participant artwork is well documented and preserved.
All donations are tax-deductible through our fiscal sponsor, the William James Association . Donations can be made through this GoFundMe campaign, or directly to WJA, with a gift note of “Project PAINT” to support our program.
Thank you for standing with us and believing in the transformative power of art in our participants' lives. We can’t wait to share what we create together in the year ahead!
With gratitude,
Project PAINT: The Prison Arts Initiative
P.S. - Your gift - no matter the size - has a BIG impact on the people we serve. If Project PAINT has inspired you this year, please consider making a donation or sharing our call for support to your network.
*Cover Image: Project PAINT alumni turned Teaching Artist Ruben Radillo working with a participant at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility courtesy of Josemar Gonzalez, 2025.
** Image with Participant Quote: Project PAINT participant on D Yard at RJD Correctional Facility, Image by Peter Merts, 2019
About Our Fiscal Sponsors, The William James Association:
Acting on the conviction that the arts enrich, heal, and unite communities, the William James Association has brought exceptional artists into prisons throughout California for over 40 years. WJA's Prison Arts Project provides thousands of adults and youth in our criminal justice system with meaningful arts experiences, proving that the practice of making art cultivates transformation and improves lives. It returns them to communities with a sense of self-worth that helps them to create new lives as contributing citizens.
You can learn more about our work on OUR WEBSITE.
Organizer
William James Association
Beneficiary