Stomping Grounds
Literary Arts Initiative NFP

Literacy as Liberation.
Art as Resistance.

Join Us

Stomping Grounds offers professional-level workshops in creative writing, visual arts, and audio engineering inside juvenile detention centers in Chicago and the Illinois suburbs. Our programs help incarcerated and criminalized youth build resilience, develop practical skills, and become the authors of their own stories.

Founded in 2021 by award-winning teaching artist Elgin Bokari Smith, SGLAI works inside three Illinois carceral centers and across Chicago's community spaces through Stomping Grounds Open Stage, our monthly hybrid showcase, and Pocket Con, our annual comic convention celebrating Black, Brown, LGBTQIA+, women, and independent creators. 500+ youth served. 1200+ Open Stage and Pocket Con attendees.

Carceral Centers

We have active programming in 3 carceral centers in Illinois and 5 classrooms

500+

Youth Served

Through workshops and classes in carceral centers & schools

1200+

Attendees

At Open Stage events and our annual comic book convention Pocket Con

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Alumni presenting his story

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Inside Our Classroom

Each week, our teaching artists lead small-group workshops in creative writing, visual arts, and audio engineering inside three Illinois juvenile facilities. The work is trauma-informed, consent-based, and led by youth's interests , giving young people the space to narrate their own experiences, develop technical skills, and share their work through publication, recordings, and exhibitions.