"New York Art For Justice" One Day Forum At Columbia Law School November 16th 9 A.M. to 6 P.M

MANHATTAN, N.Y. - Oct. 25, 2018 - PRLog -- The "New York Art for Justice Forum" will be held on Friday, November 16 at Columbia Law School.  The Law School is located at 435 West 118th Street in Manhattan.  Breakfast and registration start at 9 a.m.

The "NY Art For Justice Forum" will explore the role of the arts in addressing mass incarceration and criminal justice reform in three areas: Youth, Arts in Prison and Arts in the Reentry Community. Thought leaders, legislators, and practitioners from the arts, advocacy, and corrections arenas throughout the New York metropolitan region will be the Forum's panelists and breakout session facilitators.

The Forum is being hosted and presented by Rehabilitation Through The Arts, Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, and The Kernochan Center for Law, Media and the Arts at Columbia Law School, in collaboration with California Lawyers for the Arts.  Partial funding for the program is being provided by the Art for Justice Fund, the Andy Warhol Foundation and Quentin Hancock Fund.

NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision's Acting Commissioner Anthony Annucci will be the event's keynote speaker.  Additional speakers will include JoAnne Page, The Fortune Society; Vincent Schiraldi, Columbia School of Social Work; Joseph Popcun, NYS Public Safety, Liza Jessie Peterson, playwright, actor; Tommy Demenkoff, NYC Department of Correction; and Caits Meissner, PEN America.

In addition to Mr. Annucci's keynote address, the Forum will include artistic performances, breakout sessions, lunch and a closing reception featuring art created from inside and outside prison walls by former and current incarcerated individuals.

Rehabilitation Through The Arts (RTA) is a world leader in arts-in-corrections starting at Sing Sing in 1996. It currently operates a wide-ranging arts program in five New York State maximum and medium security prisons serving 200 incarcerated men and women at any given time. RTA's transformative work uses the arts to build critical life skills that support prisoners' emotional, social and cognitive growth both inside and outside prison. Two published evidence-based research studies show improved behavior and anger management in RTA participants, plus a 3-fold increase in time spent in higher education. Comparative national studies show that fewer than 7% of RTA members return to prison versus over 50% nationwide.

Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (VLA) is the leading legal aid and education organization dedicated to New York artists and its arts and cultural organizations. VLA strives to protect the artistic community's livelihoods, businesses, and creative works through access to dedicated legal representation and focused education programs. The organization provides legal services to the arts community covering every discipline from acting, animation, architectural design, choreography, composition, costume design, craft and folk arts to fashion, film, graphic design, literary arts, multimedia, music, photography, playwriting, poetry, screenwriting, songwriting, theater, video arts and game design, visual arts, and web design.

The Kernochan Center at Columbia Law School is one of the leading centers for intellectual property research in the United States. Its faculty and staff dedicate their research and writing to copyright, trademarks, and related areas as they concern traditional and emerging media, entertainment and the arts. The Center offers an in-depth program of instruction, lectures, internships, and externships while providing symposia, lectures, research studies and publications to the broader legal community.

Entry to the "NY Art For Justice Forum" on November 16 is $25 and includes lunch and the reception. Tickets and more information may be secured by visiting https://www.eventbrite.com/e/new-york-art-for-justice-forum-tickets-49143205651. Parking will be limited, public transportation is recommended.