Welcome to the blog for Staging Old Masters, a collaboration between the Pulitzer, Prison Performing Arts, Employment Connection, and the Performing Arts Department at Washington University in St. Louis.

Staging Old Masters presents—over five weekends in April and May—short theatrical pieces written and performed by former prisoners and formerly homeless veterans, inspired by their interactions with works of art featured in the Pulitzer’s Old Masters exhibition. The actors study movement, diction, writing and other skills under Prison Performing Arts director Agnes Wilcox; they are also enrolled in employment and life skills classes at Employment Connection.

Look for posts in this blog two or three times a week, from now until the last show in May. We’ll be bringing you words and art straight from the actors; interviews with actors and staff; rehearsal photography and videos; in-depth explorations of works of art in the Old Masters exhibition (by both actors and Pulitzer staff); accounts of exercises and activities led by Agnes; and current perspectives on the transformational possibilities of art.

Before we go on, I’ll introduce myself: I’m Jay Thompson, an M.F.A. candidate in Poetry at Washington University in St. Louis, a one-time college actor, an avid museumgoer and arts-lover, and an intern for the Staging Old Masters program. I’ll be writing many of the blog entries, and introducing its outside content. It’s a tremendous pleasure and eye-opening experience to work with Agnes, these actors, the staff at the Pulitzer, and my Washington University colleagues; here’s hoping the pleasure will be yours, too, following along right here.