Mission

Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) helps people in prison develop critical life skills through the arts, modeling an approach to the justice system based on human dignity rather than punishment.

What We Do

The US prison system is based on punishment. The problem is, it doesn't work - more than half of people released from prison are back within three years. This revolving door breaks down families and communities and costs taxpayers billions.

RTA offers a better approach. Founded at Sing Sing in 1996, RTA works with professional teaching artists to lead year-round workshops in theatre, dance, music, creative writing, and visual arts. The RTA model provides an intensive, comprehensive arts program that builds critical life skills so that people can meet the challenges of connecting with family and community when released.

RTA demonstrates that an approach based on human dignity is vastly more successful than one based on punishment. Less than 5% of RTA members return to prison, compared to the national recidivism rate of 60%.