John and Gloryanne Carswell. Credit Lee Dart photography
Lee Dart photography
Across two continents, two visionary initiatives are proving that creativity can be a lifeline for young people facing some of life’s toughest challenges. In the United States, The DogTown Collection, curated by John Carswell, uses graffiti and street art to steer at-risk youth away from violence and incarceration. In the United Kingdom, The Inside Out Clothing Project, founded by award-winning BBC journalist Greg McKenzie, empowers young people leaving prison to build careers in fashion.
Though separated by thousands of miles, these projects share a mission: to help young people rebuild their futures by unlocking their creative potential.
The Inside Out Clothing Project
The Inside Out Clothing Project
Creativity as Rehabilitation: A global need
Young people who grow up in environments shaped by poverty, gang culture, unstable homes, or systemic disadvantage often have limited access to safe spaces where they can express themselves. For many, creativity becomes more than a hobby, it is a pathway to confidence, community, purpose, and self-worth.
Both The DogTown Collection and The Inside Out Clothing Project use artistic expression to help young people break cycles of violence or reoffending, discover new identities beyond crime, build professional skills and connect with mentors who understand their struggles. Their shared belief is simple and radical: art can change lives.
John & Gloryanne Carswell
Lee Dart photography
The DogTown Collection: Preserving Graffiti Culture and Protecting At-Risk Youth
Curated by John Carswell and his daughter Gloryanne “Baby G”, The DogTown Collection has grown into the world’s largest street art collection on canvas, spanning thousands of works produced over five decades. Featuring early pioneers such as Cornbread and monumental murals created by crews like Los Angeles’ Under The Influence, the collection is both an archive and a living testament to global graffiti history.
But DogTown was never intended to be just an art collection, it evolved into a social intervention program for young people caught between gang life and the justice system.
The DogTown Collection
Courtesy of The DogTown Collection
A mission rooted in preservation and protection
When Carswell founded the collection, he set out to preserve graffiti’s cultural legacy while building opportunities for young artists. Over time, his work expanded into programming that connects legendary graffiti artists with vulnerable youth.
Through its nonprofit branch, AMGRAF (the American Urban Art and Graffiti Conservation Project), DogTown supports a range of activities including free graffiti workshops taught by veteran artists, anti-gang and anti-violence education, mural projects in gang-affected neighborhoods and traveling exhibitions that bring graffiti history to communities nationwide.
More than 200 young people have participated in AMGRAF outreach programs, gaining access to spaces where art replaces conflict and where respected graffiti legends provide mentorship.
UTI SKILL SKAE SMOG
The DogTown Collection
Graffiti lessons that save lives
During the AMGRAF workshops, experienced graffiti artists–many of whom overcame incarceration, addiction, or gang involvement themselves–teach young people fundamental techniques, the history of graffiti, and the importance of choosing community over conflict.
Carswell explains the motivation behind Dogtown: “Dogtown started with only one mission. To historically preserve an art genre. But through the years of building the collection, I met so many of the artists who had previously been incarcerated, drug addicted or in the gangs who turned their lives around and had a heart for serving others. This really struck a chord in me, I had grown up as a youth at risk and knew how valuable a mentor who had already “walked the walk” could be to young people who in some ways never stood a chance. I saw how strongly these young people connected with graffiti culture. By bringing in respected graffiti legends — including former gang members — we created workshops where the youth feel understood and supported and safe. In these sessions, even kids from rival gangs often lower their guard once they start creating side-by-side. The shared focus on art helps them see each other as individuals with similar experiences rather than enemies. That breakthrough is what motivated me to continue building programs that offer mentorship, community, and a real path away from violence.”
Carswell grew up as a youth at risk himself, so he understands the power of mentorship. He watched how graffiti culture could help young people express anger, trauma, and identity in creative ways rather than destructive ones.
PTK SIKE
The DogTown Collection
Art as a Tool for Peace
In some programs, AMGRAF brings youth from rival gangs together to collaborate on murals. These projects are conducted under supervised truces, with shared meals and guided conversations. The goal is to create camaraderie, mutual respect, and a sense of unity through art.
AMGRAF also supports local organizations, contributes paint and supplies, and works closely with artists to ensure safety during community projects. Their philosophy is to add to the community, not replace existing efforts.
The Dogtown Collection
AMGRAF
A legacy of preservation
Carswell’s love of graffiti began in 1980s Southern California, surrounded by Chicano culture, lowriders, and the vibrant lettering that transformed freeway walls. Much of that artwork disappeared within weeks, painted over or destroyed. His desire to preserve these ephemeral expressions grew into a lifelong mission.
Over the years, Carswell formed relationships with crews across the U.S., sometimes meeting artists in alleys or train yards at night. His collection now includes rare works, including Prophets, Teachers & Kings (PTK), a monumental sub-collection anchored by a 105-foot mural painted by nearly 50 artists from the Under The Influence crew. Spanning 30 canvases, it honors graffiti’s history and memorializes fallen artists.
Inside Out Founder Greg McKenzie
Courtesy of Inside Out
The Inside Out Clothing Project: Turning prison experience into fashion innovation
On the other side of the Atlantic, former BBC News Correspondent Greg McKenzie is leading a creative revolution inside the UK’s prison system. Founded four years ago, The Inside Out Clothing Project is a nonprofit community interest company that helps young people leaving prison build careers in fashion and reconnect with society.
McKenzie and his team work directly inside prisons, selecting young people for a five-week program that teaches them how to design clothing, build a fashion brand, market products and develop entrepreneurial skills. These activities also help to improve the mental wellness and confidence of the young people selected for the program. The program has achieved a remarkable 91% reduction in reoffending, demonstrating the transformative power of creative opportunity.
Greg McKenzie
Greg McKenzie
A mission born from lived experience
McKenzie and his twin brother grew up in and out of the British care system, watching friends fall into cycles of crime and incarceration. Determined to choose a different path, both brothers worked hard and built careers at the BBC. But one news assignment changed everything. While covering a stabbing on an inner-city London estate, McKenzie was confronted by local teenagers who asked him what he was doing to actively help, not just report from a crime scene. He realized that news reports and articles can raise awareness, but real change requires direct action.
McKenzie started Inside Out because he was frustrated with the prison system not giving young people a chance, and he wanted to make a change.
McKenzie told me on a call: “Inside Out was born from my own story: a kid shuffled through children’s homes who refused to give up. I use fashion as a lifeline to give young people with lived experience the second chances I had to fight for. Whether they’re inside prison or out, I want them to feel seen, valued, and capable. Four years later, this project hits harder than anything I ever reported on during my 25 years at the BBC. I’ve created a movement for positive change in recidivism and a model which works. Allowing our participants to create a new fashion line, then help build a pop up shop in the new year where they will run it and receive a proper wage. I’m so proud of what I’ve created. Two of our young people are now in university, three have their own clothing brands, and we employ seven of them.”
An Inside Out Workshop
Inside Out
From prison to the fashion industry
Inside Out’s clothing range includes hoodies, joggers, and screen-printed T-shirts, all designed by young people in the program. The initiative has attracted partnerships with BoohooMAN and Debenhams (new collections will be available soon) and other retailers committed to giving second chances.
The “Class of 2024” Inside Out cohort showcased extraordinary talent. One standout designer, Martallus Alfred, created the “Life Reload” hoodie. Alfred says: “’Life Reload’ represents starting again. Prison gave me the opportunity to think straight and get myself sorted out. My life is beginning to blossom again, and that is symbolised by the rose in my design.”
Stories like Martallus’s highlight how creativity can reshape identity and restore dignity.
Inside Out Print Day
The Inside Out Clothing Project
Changing Narratives and Changing Lives
Inside Out challenges the stigma surrounding young ex-offenders. Where society might see risk, McKenzie’s team sees potential designers, innovators, entrepreneurs and creators. By combining fashion with mentorship, economic empowerment, and emotional support, Inside Out opens doors that were once firmly shut.
The result is not just clothing, it is a movement. A movement that believes people are more than their sentences and that opportunity can break even the strongest cycles of reoffending.
The Inside Out Clothing Project Pop Up Shop at Westfield, London
The Inside Out Clothing Project
A global creative movement with local impact
The DogTown Collection and The Inside Out Clothing Project share a profound, universal truth: young people need creative outlets, mentors who believe in them, and opportunities to redefine their paths.
Through paint and fabric, graffiti and fashion, murals and design studios, these programs offer something too many at-risk youth and young ex-offenders have never had: a second chance.
Their work proves that creativity doesn’t just decorate walls or fill wardrobes. It rebuilds lives. It restores hope. Proof that creativity can heal wounds, offer rehabilitation and rebuild lives for a better future.