These feature reports are a segment of the series Arts in Corrections, sponsored by the Alliance for California Traditional Arts – ACTA – with funding from the California Arts Council. ACTA has worked for the past twenty years to help cultural traditions thrive around the state. ACTA’s programs help people connect with their heritage and make their traditions being central part in their lives. Arts in Corrections is one of those program that teach interns in the art of telling their stories through traditional arts and music.

For this series, reporters Tena Rubio and Rubén Tapia went inside several state prisons in California to document the sounds of arts workshops and talk to participant interns about their experience.