APPROACH

The Word Is Love examines what happens to children as the result of parental arrest and incarceration. Teaching workshops in creative expression to our subjects allowed me to build a bond of trust necessary to record their stories. We played theatre games, made up stories and re-enacted them, drew pictures – self-portraits, portraits of family – and wrote letters – letters to parents – letters to God.  The theme of all of this work was consistent – they can’t understand why they are without a parent and want this parent to come home and be part of their lives.  And often, too often, they blame themselves for what has happened to a parent. They deeply believe that with enough love, they can make everything right. We have followed some of these children for more than a decade. We will tell their stories in a four part series: