The Ben Free Project is a justice-centered arts and education nonprofit committed to transforming lives through creative expression, literacy, and personal development. Our core programming engages incarcerated and system-impacted individuals with high-quality, culturally relevant, and trauma-informed curricula designed to promote rehabilitation, reentry success, and community reintegration.

At the heart of our work is art as intervention—programming that leverages storytelling, writing, visual arts, and media production to foster self-awareness, emotional growth, and social connection. Our flagship offerings include Comic Creation, Graphic Memoir Writing, Carceral Journalism Workshops, and Rites of Passage programs adapted for adult correctional settings. These courses are not only educational but therapeutic, equipping participants with tools to understand their own narratives and reclaim authorship over their futures.

In 2024, the California Arts Council awarded us a program grant to deliver Comic Creation at Lancaster State Prison, a first-of-its-kind course co-facilitated by a formerly incarcerated author and a Hollywood screenwriter. This partnership exemplifies our model: pairing lived experience with professional expertise to create access, credibility, and impact.

Our services also include reentry support through creative entrepreneurship training, public-facing art exhibits, and policy advocacy that centers the voices of currently and formerly incarcerated artists. We work in collaboration with correctional institutions, community colleges, and academic partners to ensure alignment with both rehabilitative goals and industry standards.

Every program we offer is guided by the belief that redemption is a creative act. Whether inside or outside prison walls, we empower participants to imagine new possibilities—and build them, one story at a time.