Judy Dworin Performance Project Visits Expressiones, Mitchell

The is coming to both Expressiones and Mitchell College this weekend to exhibit both gallery and performance art.

will hold an opening reception for the new exhibit from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday. will hold a discussion on topics such as incarceration and youth outreach at 2 p.m. in the Weller Center; Dworin’s performance piece “Time In” will begin an hour later. Both events are free and open to the public.

“What we try to do and how we’ve evolved is to try to promote programming and awareness of the arts among the students,” said Suzanne Bartels, director of library and information services at Mitchell. Some of the artwork is being displayed at Mitchell and will be included in class curriculums.

Dworin has worked with incarcerated women at the York Correctional Institution in Niantic. The exhibits look at the way women evaluate their lives while behind bars. The “Time In” performance addresses the topic through song, story, and dance.

The panel discussion prior to the performance is entitled “Taking Positive Risks: Arts and the Underserved.” Panelists will include Lonnie Braxton, a juvenile prosecutor, community activist, and member of the New London Board of Education’s Truancy Committee; Kate Fioravanti, arts director of the Interdistrict School for Arts and Communication; John Pescatello, founder of New London Anti-Violence; Leigh Ware, a licensed counselor, minister, and adjunct in Mitchell’s law and justice policies department who has worked with the York Correctional Institution; and George Wezner, a former prison warden and current assistant professor of law and justice policy studies at Mitchell.

For more information, contact Bartels at bartels_s@mitchell.edu or 860-701-5155.