Artistic Justice evolved and was named through the on-going practice, programming, study and work of George Chavez, Andrew Draper, Matthew LaBonte, Angel Lopez, Terry W. Mosley Jr. and Brett Phillips – all of whom are incarcerated in the Colorado Department of Corrections — with Dr. Ashley Hamilton. It was inspired during the creation of their play IF LIGHT CLOSED ITS EYES, an interview-based theatre process which occurred from 2019-2022. The team’s experiences of sitting in over 100 interviews and stories from in and around the criminal justice system inspired the team to push into the ideas and concepts they were learning from others and to share them more broadly.

In the summer of 2021, the same interview team created their first Artistic Justice workshop (now called Artistic Justice: The Foundation) for incarcerated residents and correctional staff, throughout the Colorado Department of Corrections. That summer the team traveled to 11 different CDOC facilities across the state and led the two-day, arts-based, educational workshop for 300 staff and incarcerated residents. The experience and transformation that occurred during that workshops series, as well as their transformative experience of conducting the 100 interviews, crystalized Artistic Justice. 

Artistic Justice strives to create individual and community connection and healing in and around systems through storytelling. This shared space and experience of the artistic process must be based in intentionally crafted spaces that support new possibilities and a willingness to travel through the liminal.

Artistic Justice is a new model for forging shared humanity through artistic practice. Artistic Justice is as a tool and philosophy which can shift understanding of our shared humanity in carceral spaces and beyond to the larger criminal justice and legal system. The creators of Artistic Justice have lectured together on their work at New York University, the University of Colorado, the University of Denver, the Correctional Leaders Association and more.