With support from the California Arts Council, Community Works West will oversee the residency of teaching artist Ashley Smiley at The Academy — San Francisco. The teaching artist facilitates the Community Works Youth Arts Elective, a credited HS course combining standards-based arts education, creative arts expression, and restorative justice. Youth impacted by incarceration and their peers explore the personal impacts of oppression through the healing and transformative powers of the arts.
Community Works West is the premiere provider of restorative justice programs in the San Francisco Bay Area, launching in 1997 with the first restorative justice program in a county jail and the first pre-charge diversion program for youth in San Francisco and Alameda counties. Our restorative justice, arts, and human service programs include anti-violence, job readiness, batterers’ intervention, and family-strengthening services for individuals, families, and communities affected by incarceration. Our restorative arts programs provide a safe and creative space for individuals to overcome the trauma of incarceration.
