Before Project Reset existed, the New York City court system had few options for people who commit low-level offenses. The most common ones are to prosecute, which can turn a single time shoplifting into a lifelong criminal record, and to release without a meaningful response from the justice system.
Project Reset provides another pathway: two hours of art programming at the Brooklyn Museum instead of going to court. The Museum has been a partner since the project launched in Brooklyn in 2019, using its collection as a jumping-off point for discussions about self-narrative, systemic power, and justice.
It’s the first arts-based court diversion program in the city.
“We’re using a cultural institution as a bridge for disrupting negative experience,” says Janine Jean-Pierre, Director of Diversion and Transformative Initiatives for Brooklyn Justice Initiatives, Project Reset’s parent organization.
The criminal justice system perpetuates racial disparities at every step, beginning with arrests and prosecution. In Brooklyn, Black people are convicted of felonies and misdemeanors about seven times more than white people. Having a criminal record makes it harder to get a job and secure housing, making the system nearly impossible to escape.
Project Reset allows people to avoid both going to court and having a criminal record. The program now exists in all five boroughs in coordination with local district attorneys. Anyone 18 and older arrested in Brooklyn and issued desk appearance tickets for eligible nonviolent misdemeanors can participate in the Brooklyn Museum’s art-based programming.
Whether the two-hour program engages with an oil painting or an article of clothing, it begins with a discussion about the art on display. Participants then create their own art in response to what they’ve seen and talked about.
“The Brooklyn Museum is a place that houses a wide range of great art, an atmosphere that cultivates courageous and inspiring conversations, which is powerful,” says Jean-Pierre.
One session focuses on Titus Kaphar’s Shifting the Gaze, a recreation of a Dutch portrait of a white European family. Kaphar painted over the family members, leaving only the Black boy believed to be their servant. Another session is dedicated to the neon installation LOVE RULES by Hank Willis Thomas, which blinks the words “Love,” “Over,” and “Rules.” Teaching artists guide conversations about what participants see in the art, as well as what it would mean to “shift the gaze” of how people see them and their communities. In the art-making studio, participants create collages from newspaper clippings, then use paint to change the narrative of what they’ve assembled.
For many attendees, the workshop is their first experience at the Brooklyn Museum—and might mark their first time in a museum. After the program, participants receive passes to return to the Museum with friends and family. More than 70 percent say they’re “extremely likely” to come back.
“A lot of people leave the space just feeling rejuvenated because they're able to connect,” says Jean-Pierre. “They understand that we are a community and that we're here to support them.”