The PDD partnership with Friends of Island Academy (FOIA) took place from March to June of 2006. FOIA is a support center for youth transitioning out of incarceration. FOIA reaches out to youth prior to their release from Rikers Island and upon discharge, provides them with job training, counseling, education, mentoring, and youth leadership development. In return, participants are expected to stay out of trouble, take responsibility for themselves, and work to rebuild their lives.

ICP's PDD program provides these teens with an introduction to digital photography and encourages them to discover positives ways to express themselves through photography and writing. In both 2005 and 2006, the ICP-FOIA collaboration served a group of 15 young women over a 15-week period by incorporating weekly classes in photography, theater, and writing into the preexisting "Womens' Group" curriculum that focuses on health and wellness. A final slide presentation, reading, and exhibition at the center enabled participants to show their work to family, friends, staff, and funders.

The ICP-FOIA partnership offers a frequently overlooked and dismissed population a unique arts and social services partnership. We believe in the potential of these young people and their right to healthier lives, which includes a more holistic education and opportunities to express themselves in positive ways.

View the 2005 Gallery.
As selected from the 2005 partnership which focused on the themes of rebirth, transformation and flight, the following triptychs (and accompanying text) highlight the students' journeys of healing and empowerment across time. Acknowledging the challenges of the past to recognize the achievements of their present and finally to look toward an even brighter future was the path that inspired the young women to create their work.

View the 2006 Gallery.
As selected from the 2006 partnership which focused on the themes of self-love and sisterhood, the following portraits are designed by the subjects (as titled) and taken by their peers. From honoring their tears and spirituality as strength to dressing up like queens, the young women collaboratively created images of their beauty, dignity, and empowerment.

For more information, contact Community Programs at (212) 857-0061 or community_programs@icp.org.

The photographs are a selection of activity shots and student work from "Diamonds in the Rough."