Maine Inside Out 2024 Annual Report
Thank you to everyone who participated in and supported Maine Inside Out’s work in 2024 - it was a transformational year.
We took on big projects like the collaborative Juneteenth Festival “The City That Carries Us: Pain, Streets, and Heartbeats,” theater projects at King Middle School and Mountain View Correctional Facility, and community work focused on building peer support and leadership here in Lewiston while supporting community members across the state.
We transformed internally too. We formed a creative ensemble of staff and Lewiston community artists to create an original play, “Broken Clock,” that is now touring the state. We engaged our staff, board, and Lewiston community members in a strategic process to refine our mission, vision, and three-year strategic plan. 2024 began with the three of us (Chiara, Joseph, and Noah) stepping into co-leadership of Maine Inside Out. While we’ve worked closely together in programmatic roles since 2017, co-leading the organization has required a level of communication, praxis, and attunement that only reinforces the importance of our unique perspectives and strength of our shared leadership. We are excited to share these highlights and learning from 2024 as well as MIO’s work moving forward.
Maine Inside Out has an important role to play in transforming a culture of punishment and isolation to one that thrives in connection, dignity, and accountability. The reality is that Maine’s reliance on systems of punishment - as opposed to accountability and support - are not meeting the needs of impacted youth, adults, and the general public. Maine’s adult prison population has increased by almost 20% since 2021 and Black people are incarcerated at a rate 9.2 times higher than white people (a racial disparity that is higher than the national average). Over 30,000 people are released each year from Maine’s prisons and jails to few opportunities and limited resources. While Maine has reduced youth incarceration, it “hasn’t made comparable strides to bolster how it holds accountable and supports youth in the rest of the juvenile justice system, allowing chronic problems to persist.” (see "Shame on Us: How Maine Struggles to Handle Troubled Youth" New York Times, 2024).
Maine Inside Out ignites collective creativity and inspires social action by engaging system impacted youth and adults to create and share original theater. Relationships and creativity are our guiding forces. Theater is the forum for us to practice deepening relationships, to see each other in new ways, and to tap each of our inherent creativity to be powerful and interdependent. We can build the support, connection, and accountability that our communities need when we build the trust that comes from being vulnerable and truly seen.
Thank you for believing in our mission and vision and for all your support. We are honored to share these highlights with you from 2024 and invite you to become more deeply involved with us this year.
Chiara Liberatore, Joseph Jackson, and Noah Bragg
Maine Inside Out Co-Executive Directors
2024 Film
This short film gives insight into the impact of our work in 2024, including projects with youth artists at King Middle School, with incarcerated artists at Mountain View Correctional Facility, and with our many community partners for Lewiston's Juneteenth festival.
Film by Alex Sutula and Bennet Mosseau with illustrations by Sara Cannon and inside audio recording by Emma Reynolds
Mission
Maine Inside Out ignites collective creativity and inspires social action by engaging youth and adults impacted by systemic oppression to create and share original theater.
Vision
Maine Inside Out envisions communities and systems that see each person’s humanity, our shared connection, and our place in the natural world. Our vision is to transform a culture of punishment and isolation to one that thrives in connection, dignity, and accountability.
values
Maine Inside Out’s values are trust, consistency, creativity, connection, love and purpose.
2024 Highlights & Impact
Creative Ensemble of Staff & Community Artists
10 artists, 1 play, 4 performances, 500+ attendees
This is the first time that MIO staff and community artists have collaborated on an original play. This powerful piece about incarceration, gun violence, grief, family, trust, and time is now touring the state in communities and prisons. Audience responses have been striking:
“I connect to what it's like to be disconnected from family and community.”
“Mothers risk everything to fight for their kids.”
“We can learn how to respond to harm without causing more harm.”
“Another world is possible - we have to dream it first.”
Lewiston’s Juneteenth Festival
40+ planning coalition partners, 10+ performances, 400+ attendees
Celebrating the beauty of the Lewiston community and honoring Juneteenth with a community-wide gathering featuring a parade, block party, artistic performances including the premiere of an original play and an original film, a community grief ritual, free food, and children’s activities. Artists who played lead roles in the festival said:
“Being part of the festival coalition made me feel like an important part of the community.”
“We’re inviting the community to create systems of belonging alongside us.”
Mountain View Correctional Facility Theater Project
15 artists, 1 original play
The play focused on themes of growing into manhood, the struggles of street life and incarceration, and the significance of brotherhood. The performance scheduled inside the prison was canceled by the facility in order to prioritize security, but audio recordings of the artists’ poetry and stories have since been incorporated into the MIO creative ensemble’s original play. One artists commented:
“As a Black man incarcerated in Maine, the way I feel seen and heard by MIO facilitators is not what I’ve experienced in other spaces.”
Youth Theater Projects - Performances & Community Dialogues
Lewiston - 15 artists, 2 original plays
Portland - 19 artists, 4 original plays
MIO’s 12-week theater creation workshops build youth leadership, strengthen peer relationships and adult support systems, and raise youth voices in addressing critical social issues. Students created powerful plays and held multiple performances and community dialogues that brought out vulnerable and candid sharing, supportive listening, and calls to action. When asked how the community can support the artists, youth responded with:
“Keep showing up and showing love, whether we’re making plays or not.”
“Listen to us. Care about us. Help us when we ask for it.”
Theater Workshops
3 workshops, 60 participants
MIO’s 90-minute interactive workshops offer games and exercises that use theater as a tool for building trust and deepening dialogue. In 2024, MIO held workshops at Bowdoin College, the Common Ground Fair, and for Lewiston youth in partnership Sustainable Livelihoods Relief Organization.
Open Mics
4 open mics, 30+ performers, 200+ attendees
Hosted by MIO’s Lewiston leadership group of system-impacted artists, open mics are a welcoming and supportive space for MIO artists and others from the community who want to share their voices. Powerful work is shared every time:
“I have a vision where we are never judged for residential. Where we help people regulate instead of incarcerate.”
“No one knows what they don’t know. No one sees what they can’t see. How can we deny their humanity?”
Community Lunches
10 community lunches, 40+ participants
MIO’s monthly community lunches bring together system-impacted artists including special guests invited to share lessons learned and create art together.
“It feels really good to connect with people who understand my experiences and have some similar ones themselves.”
Advocacy & support
40+ MIO artists supported
MIO offers peer support, personal advocacy, and emergency funds to overcome barriers faced by system-impacted people.
“My MIO family has my back as I figure out what I need to do. How to get the support I need.”
“Getting emergency funds means I have money to get to work today.”
Strategic planning
70+ surveys and interviews with staff, community artists, board members, partners, donors, and community members to support our strategic planning process
2024 Financials
MIO was able to cover the small deficit with cash reserves in 2024.
Thank You!
Deep appreciation for all of the ways the MIO community shows up for this collective work. To our MIO artists, partners, foundation supporters, donors, board members, volunteers, audience members, and larger community of supporters - thank you.
Join Us!
All of our voices are needed to move toward MIO’s vision to transform a culture of punishment and isolation to one that thrives in connection, dignity and accountability.
Ways to be involved:
Join for an upcoming performance - Juneteenth event in Lewiston June 17
Host our team for a theater workshop at your organization
Reach out to connect with us
Share our work with friends and loved ones
Make a donation
Keep following and supporting our work