Madison art program inspires at-risk youth’s creativity

The room is largely gray, soaked in fluorescent light. A few guards, older Sheriff’s Office staff, wait outside behind the thick plexiglass windows.

But on the table in front of the teens sit microphones and a laptop — part of an ongoing podcasting class led by Dee Star, who has taught the course at the detention center for the past year. 

Over two days, Star teaches the group the basics of recording and interviewing. From there, a subject is brought in for the class to interview. Guests have included real estate agents, rappers, clothing designers and anti-mass incarceration activists. 

“They can see, ‘Wow, this is a real person who really does this,'” Star said. 

Star’s class is part of Making Justice, a workshop and art program for at-risk and incarcerated youth that’s run out of The Bubbler, a community art program within the Madison Public Library.

Star’s mission with Making Justice is to “plant that seed” of curiosity in the arts or business and then be “off to the next kid.” 

“I cannot even tell you how many times I’ve asked the question, ‘What do you want to be?'” Star said. “So many kids say, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to be alive.’ The ‘I don’t know’ is totally fine when you’re 15, 16. But to say you’re probably not going to be alive? It’s heartbreaking.” 

Since its 2014 beginnings, Making Justice has strived to bring the tools of artistic expression to the community’s youth. Whether they are caught up in the court system, at risk of ending up there, actually incarcerated or just looking for something to do, the kids served by the program are introduced to the joys of painting, music, fashion, videography and more.

And they’re learning from some of the best. Over the years, some of the city’s most-established artists and culture makers have staffed the program and worked as artists-in-residence. 

For his part, Star is a rising personality in the local podcasting scene. His program, “OuttaDeeBox,” features guests who have been formerly incarcerated and activists fighting against mass incarceration. 

Then there’s Jerry Butler, a remarkable painter and muralist who has twice been an artist-in-residence with the program. 

Over the years, Butler, other artists and youth incarcerated at the Juvenile Detention Center have remade the interior of the space, replacing alienating blank walls with murals teeming with color and inspiration. In the center’s intake room, a giant heart now covers the wall. Another mural depicts a blue landscape and stairs, adorned with a quote from Martin Luther King Jr.: “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” 

“To me, it makes the space a little softer,” Butler said. “To come into these spaces, and usually there’s not anything to look at. You hardly notice the wall. You just notice the feeling. But if you can notice what’s on the wall, you can lessen the impact somewhat. I can’t say how much, because it’s a difficult thing for these kids.” 

When working with teens on the murals, Butler likes to make his presence “low-key” and advisory. The teens come up with the ideas for the project and execute the design and build trust and relationships among themselves, he said.

Murals take anywhere from a week to months to complete. And since there’s plenty of turnover in the lockup, different groups have a say in the final design. 

“One of the things I want to do is let them know that you may be in this space right now, but if you can imagine yourself anywhere, then that imagination can take you to places you want to be,” Butler said.

Making Justice emerged as a reaction to a 2013 report on racial disparities in the Madison area called “Race to Equity.”

That report, published by the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, found alarming educational achievement gaps between Black and white youth. Those disparities extended to the experience of Black youth in the criminal justice system. 

In 2010, Black teens in Dane County were six times more likely than white ones to be arrested while their peers outside of Madison were only three times more likely to be arrested. 

An updated report released this year didn’t analyze criminal justice data but found that disparities persist in areas considered upstream from incarceration, such as education, class and health. Black children in Dane County, for example, face a poverty rate about seven times higher than white children. They also feel less safe in their classrooms, perform worse on standardized tests and change schools more often than white students. 

While it is a key focus, the work of Making Justice goes far beyond area youth who are already incarcerated. Organizers tout a citywide impact and a depth of creativity from the program’s participants that spans many artistic mediums. At Lakeview Library, collages of broken CDs made by participants spell out the word “teens.” 

Participants have shot and produced music videos touching on complex, difficult themes, from gun violence to the relationship between a mother and a daughter. 

“The mentorship element of it allows them to open up,” said Rob Franklin, also known as Rob Dz, head of media projects for The Bubbler. “When we come in, we’re able to share our challenges, our shortcomings, where we bumped our heads. It opens them up.”

At first, projects Franklin oversaw in Making Justice stuck to hip-hop productions. But over time, it’s branched off into video work and other forms of visual art. 

“If we can just figure out a way to provide some type of spark,” Franklin said. “I’m not saying everybody’s going to be a podcaster. I’m not saying everybody’s going to be a rapper. But the whole goal is to at least get kids to really be inspired in some type of way.

“If that aspiration keeps them on the straight and narrow, or make some adjustments as far as the trajectory of their career path, that’s all we can hope for.” 

For Jesse Vieau, a teen services librarian, the reaction from kids who have come in and out of the program show that staff are delivering on that spark. 

Even for kids who have gone in and out of detention, the arrival of Bubbler staff is one constant they have. 

“We’re really cautious about what we commit ourselves to, because we know kids have been let down and we’re not trying to be a part of the letdown,” Vieau said. “It’s the word of mouth. When the kids are talking about it, you’ve got something. The follow-through is listening to them.”