Curtis Artist Fellow Emily Cooley on her work at Graterford Prison

Curtis Artist Fellow Emily Cooley (Composition ’17) has been working at Graterford Prison for the past year, continuing a collaboration with Songs in the Key of Free that brings composition and songwriting workshops to members of the incarcerated community at the prison. This fall, Emily discussed her project in detail, writing for Overtones to share the inspiration behind her work and the impact it has had on the incarcerated men at Graterford.

Emily also documented her work in video, including recordings of music written by participants. Many of the songs composed by the incercerated men have been performed by local artists, offering the men a creative outlet while also helping to raise awareness around the problem of mass incarceration.