Dr. Kevin Bott, founder and artistic director of Ritual4Return, will speak about “Moral Responsibility of Faith Communities in the Age of Mass Incarceration“at 9:45 a.m. on October 25. Following the presentation there will be worship in the manner of Friends at 11:00 a.m.
In 2006, Dr. Bott began facilitating prison theater workshops for the non-profit, Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA), and in 2007 became RTA’s first director of education. In 2019, Kevin was named the “Blade of Grass-David Rockefeller Fund Joint Fellow in Criminal Justice.”
In 2024, R4R was awarded the Katz Prize for Excellence in Public Humanities and in 2025 was awarded first place in the “Arts Advancing Social Justice” category by the National Organization for Arts in Health. He is currently leading Ritual4Return projects in Newark and Camden, New Jersey while also guiding teams in Boston and the Twin Cities. He is co-editor of the book, Performing Emancipatory Rites of Passage (Routledge 2026).
Kevin is the director of Rutgers Arts Online and previously served as Dean for Civic Engagement at Wagner College. Bott earned his bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University and his master’s and doctoral degrees in Theatre Education at New York University. Kevin Bott lives in Lambertville, New Jersey with his wife and three children.
Newtown Friends Meeting, co-founded by the Quaker artist and minister, Edward Hicks, in 1815, holds services every First Day (Sunday). During the school year, First Day classes for children and adults are at 9:45 a.m. and Meeting for Worship is at 11:00 a.m. Professional childcare is provided.All meetings are open to the public and visitors are warmly welcomed.
Norval Reece, Neighbor
Posted Wed, Oct 21, 2026 at 11:36 am ET