Perryville Lumley Unit News 10.17.2024

The ADCRR is happy to announce the launch of a new Art of Our Soul studio at ASPC-Perryville this October. Dedicated and compassionate staff from the women's prison and the Art of Our Soul team worked together to transform the Lumley Unit into a space that reflects the Department's vision of reimagining corrections and emphasizing women's systemic wellness.

Art helps individuals process and express experiences too difficult to describe. This program enhances participants' ability to regulate their moods, emotions, and psychological well-being. It also helps to reduce stress, depression, and anxiety. Women with significant trauma histories, serious mental illness, or those in recovery from substance use disorders will now benefit from this new multimodality therapeutic service.

The Art of Our Soul program serves women from the mental health unit and the general population. In small groups, women attend sessions throughout the week, guided by artist leaders, each with their own lived experience. These credible messengers offer something unique to the therapeutic environment: peer mentorship, which often inspires inmates as they start to see themselves differently.