Professional actor, mime and film artist Leland Faulkner worked with two separate groups of detained youth every day for one week in January creating Life Masks and challenging youth to explore their own body language and inner selves.

The youth were paired up on the first day of the residency and built plaster masks for one another. The lessons dealt directly with issues of trust, as each participant had to lie completely still for 30 minutes while their partner smoothed plaster bandages over their face. The pairs, highly supervised, then took a trust walk together, one relying on the other for sight.

Once the masks were complete, the youth worked with Leland to develop a presentational piece for court and detention staff incorporating the handmade masks, creative writing, movement and music. The presentation on January 18 was attended by approximately 40 people.