“THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF OUR DREAMS”

The saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” In the case of Madison Parish Youth and YA/YA (Young Artists/Young Aspirations) who hope to convert the infamous Tallulah Prison - now closed - into a community college, it is hoped that a picture will serve as the motivating factor in having state government turn the prison into an institution of higher learning as opposed to an institution of correction.

On July 11, Governor Kathleen Blanco signed into law HB 796, a bill carried by Rep. Arthur Morrell that amends last year’s authorizing legislation to allow a local government or governmental entity to own the Tallulah prison facility for the purpose of a learning center. In addition, two concurrent resolutions carried by Senator Charles D. Jones were passed that will move along the conversion process. One, Senate Concurrent Resolution 14, conveys the wishes of the legislature that the Governor act to resolve ownership problems that stand in the way of the prison to learning center conversion. The other, Senate Resolution 63, calls for the Board of Regents to study and develop a comprehensive plan for the learning center, consisting of a feasibility study and community planning process. At the end of the legislative session, Senator Jones procured an initial appropriation of $25,000 in the 2005-06 state budget to kick off the process.

Education Not Incarceration

Guided by YA/YA, a nationally renowned group of young artists from New Orleans and Linda Stout, a visioning expert, young people from Madison Parish are in the process of painting their future – a vision that includes better educational opportunities and better jobs for the Northeast Louisiana Delta through the Tallulah Kid’s Project, which began on July 8, 2005 with a series of guided visioning exercises to help four high school students imagine their futures and the community college of their dreams. Stout, Executive Director of Spirit in Action and a nationally prominent visioning expert, flew in from Massachusetts to conduct the sessions.

Stout remained in Tallulah for an extra week to advise the four high school students as they taught the same visioning exercises to 20 local 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. Now the teens are acting as tutors to the group as it produces a number of compelling art projects, including larger than life self-portraits and a 20’X10’ walk-in structure that represents a campus building. They are working under the guidance of artists from YA/YA, Inc. (Young Aspirations/Young Artists), from New Orleans. YA/YA is widely known across the country for its work in design arts with inner city youth and has been featured on the NBC “Today Show,” “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and, MTV’s “Real World” among others.

Founded in 1988, YA/YA’s vision is that “given the right tools and a fertile environment, motivated young people can do extraordinary things.” Public acclaim has led to contracts for YA/YA designs in applications ranging from Swatch watches to murals to seat covers for the entire General Assembly of the United Nations. Modeled on the artist guild system, YA/YA participants move in calibrated steps from apprentice to guild master, with senior students mentoring the newcomers. Expanding this peer mentorship experience, YA/YA recently launched “Urban Heroes,” a studio arts role model program that sends youth artists into other communities to conduct collaborative art projects. YA/YA finds that young people possess great potential for leadership when they are entrusted with responsibilities.

The Kids’ Project is part of an ongoing effort by a coalition of groups and individuals to help Tallulah become the first community in the nation to convert a former prison into a school. The Swanson Correctional Center for Youth (SCCY) was closed by the State of Louisiana last year and the Louisiana Delta Coalition for Education and Economic Development was organized to insure that the prison instead becomes a community college and a learning center.

The notion here, says Ann Schnieders, spokesperson for YA/YA, is that many of the kids who are in the 4th, 5th and 6th grade today are tomorrow’s would-be prospects for the criminal justice system. The Kids’ Project aims to serve as a deterrent of this phenomenon. And through the freedom of art, it will serve as a metaphor for the freedom they will experience through education, specifically higher education, in their futures.

The Kids’ Project extends beyond simply creating art – the dynamic art and architectural products created will become part of a traveling exhibit to generate widespread support for the prison to school conversion. Before the exhibit leaves Tallulah, the young artists will stage a news conference under the prison entrance’s razor wire. Later they will stage a kids-only news conference in Baton Rouge to revisit their dreams, display their art and present one of the best pieces to a special invited guest – Governor Kathleen Blanco.

The decision to create this innovative visioning and arts project for young people points to the very core of the coalition’s efforts. Swanson existed as a dead end for many troubled youth; this new educational facility will represent a beginning. These 20-plus local young people will have an unforgettable educational experience that encourages them to dream big dreams and speak their truth to the community, transforming today’s youth into tomorrow’s leaders.

The coalition believes that the new education complex will bring better schooling opportunities to the rural Delta parishes and through that, better jobs. The coalition also believes that the complex will provide a far superior economic development engine to the area than a prison. Much of the coalition’s energy during the past year has been spent in guiding legislation through the Louisiana Legislature.

The Tallulah Kids’ Project will continue into the fall with a youth presentation at the first community planning meeting. In addition, the local youth will build architectural models of their dream campus under the guidance of Concordia, LLC, a nationally known team of architects and planners based in New Orleans. Concordia is also heading up the community planning process.