Arts-in-Corrections was a unit within the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation that contracted with independent community service organizations and professional artists to provide arts programs within correctional institutions. The program began as the pilot Prison Arts Program at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, CA in 1977, and grew into the largest institutionally-based arts program in the United States before the program was terminated in 2010. The collection consists of the administrative, financial, and instructional records of Arts-in-Corrections and its contractual partners, Artsreach and the William James Association; records of individual artist facilitators; documentation of works of art; publications; and research and resources on national and international institutional arts programs.

Arts-in-Corrections was a unit within the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation that contracted with independent community service organizations and professional artists to provide arts programs within correctional institutions. The program began as the pilot Prison Arts Project at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, CA in 1977 with funding provided by the California Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, the San Francisco Foundation, and the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration. The success of this initial program led to the Legislature appropriating $400,000 to augment the 1981 Department of Corrections budget, establishing the Arts in Corrections unit within the department's Office of Community Resources Development.

160 document boxes (80 linear feet) 4 half document boxes (1 linear ft.) 2 shoe boxes 4 oversize boxes

Property rights to the physical object belong to the UC Regents. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: With the exception of box 73, collection is open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA University Archives for paging information.