Misha (left), Carrie Boucher (Center), Kinsey Rodriguez (left) in front of collages and artwork in the St Pete office of NOMADstudio. August 11, 2026. Photo by Juanita Hurtado Huerfano/ WMNF news.
As part of a program to integrate art into these kids’ routine, NOMADstudio is partnering with Tombolo Books to get more books to incarcerated teens.
The program, Justice Studio, began eight years ago as a volunteer-based effort.
For Carrie Boucher, the founder and executive director of NOMADstudio, it was a labor of love.
“Human beings have been participating in creative expression long before we were participating in you know high school math classes and English classes,” Boucher said. “So creative expression helps us at an individual level process and think about our feelings. It also helps us on a on a society level to connect with each other.”
Every week they bring classes on printmaking, coloring, collaging or writing to the center.
According to Boucher, it is one of the oldest running programs within the Pinellas Juvenile Justice Center which can serve up to 95 teens. Now, they have their own room with a small library in the back.
She recalls the first time her team walked into the center.
“One of the first things one of the kids asked us was how long we were going to continue coming,” Boucher says. “Whether he knew it or not, he understood the impacts of how grant funding works. Sometimes programs come for a little while and the kids really like them and get to know the people running them, but then the grants run out and the people disappear. And we made a commitment that day that we would stay there.”
She says art is not something that should be earned for good behavior, but rather another essential part of development.
Misha is a former participant.
She was 16 when she walked into her first art class. Her full name and charges are not disclosed in this story.
“I didn’t think it would make as much of an impact as it did. Honestly, I could say that like they’re such important people in my life. They really are like family,” said Misha.
For her, Justice Studio was an opportunity to feel like she wasn’t “locked up.” The art classes were in stark contrast with her environment within the center.
“In the cells there’s just a metal bed and then there’s like a mat on top of it. And like a little window, but you can’t even really see anything out the window either,” Misha recalls. “And then the sink and the mirror, so it’s not like a whole lot, and then sometimes like the staff.”
Misha remembers staff members who were caring and helpful. But she also remembers others making her feel worse and tensioned.
“And then also just like, I feel like when you’re a kid and you’re going through that, like you’re already irritated. So you tend to take it out on your peers or cause problems. So, the art program gives you something to look forward to. I did.”
Misha is now a 21 year old poet in Saint Pete.
She says the small library within the Justice Studio’s room helped her hone her skills and reintegrate after her release.
“I feel like I learned so much on writing just from reading,” Misha recalls. “Like I learned how to like form certain sentences or I would look at these like authors and I would want to be like them. I liked how they wrote so good, so I would use that as an example and like try to write really elaborate stuff.
As part of the program, kids can choose to keep the books they love to take with them once they are released.
Because of this, popular items like “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas and “Dear Justyce” by Nic Stone are always needed.
NOMAD Studio is partnering with Tombolo Books to showcase an online gift registry where people can purchase books for the Justice Studio program, you can find the link here.
