Guiding juvenile offenders through visual and performing arts in Harris Country, Texas

Children?s Prison Arts Project (CPAP) is a non-profit arts education organization whose mission is to expose at-risk youth in correctional facilities and shelters to an innovative educational theater and visual arts forum where they can express their thoughts and visions in a constructive way.

Founded by neighborhood artist Birgit Walker, CPAP was established and granted 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status in the fall of 1993. The organization grew out of the great need to provide new educational approaches to an increasing number of juvenile offenders in the Harris County area.

CPAP?s year-round program started in January of 1994 at the West Dallas Juvenile Detention Center and expanded to serve youth in several other facilities such as the Burnett-Bayland Home and the Tejas Home for Youth. In the last eleven years, CPAP?s programs have served more than 11,000 juvenile offenders and their families.

The three primary artists, Birgit Walker, Melissa Thibodeaux, and Mario Jose Olvera, collectively have over 40 years teaching experience in the performing and visual arts. Ms. Walker has introduced educational theater to at-risk youth in the shantytowns of Brazil and in the ghettos of Pittsburgh, Boston, New York, Harlem, and Houston. Ms. Thibodeaux has taught theater in the Houston Independent School District and performs nationwide. Mr. Olvera is an emerging visual artist who teaches art to youth in inner-city schools and performs as a spoken word artist.

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