Canadian Radio Station Interview about our Upcoming Pano Prison Art Show

(Listen to It at Your Leisure)

Listen to our interview

 live on Monday, June 8, 10:30 pm Eastern time on a prominent Vancouver, Canada radio station at www.coopradio.org or, if you miss it, listen to the podcast at www.rabble.ca.

The subject of the radio interview is

 our upcoming free art show featuring "Pano" art created in prisons across America. This is a special show called "Pano in American Tradition" at Takoma Park Community Center (Gallery 3), 7500 Maple Ave, Takoma Park, Maryland from June 12 to July 25, 2009. The art is part of the collection of the Safe Streets Arts Foundation, which operates the Prison Art Gallery in Washington DC. The opening reception will take place on June 12 from 6 to 9 pm, and will feature live music by ex-prisoner guitarist Dennis Sobin, who has performed at the Kennedy Center.
 
Paño art draws on the deepest emotions of prisoners whose artistic expression is limited only by the materials at hand. The word paño (Spanish for cloth or handkerchief) has come to mean the art form itself -- a ball point pen or colored pencil drawing on a handkerchief.
 
Scholars have yet to determine the origin of paño art but some believe that it emerged in the 1940s among Chicano prisoners in the Southwestern United States who drew on the handkerchiefs or torn bed sheets. They do this because finding materials for artistic expression is difficult.
 
The portable and economical aspects of the Paño (handkerchief) allow prisoners to share their work with family and friends, use in bartering, and to mentally escape prison life. Today paño art is associated with Chicano inmates around the country, both male and female, who neatly fold paños into envelopes and mail them to loved ones.
 
Paños typically depict prison life, loved ones, dreams, memories, or personal experiences. Paño artists take much of their imagery and inspiration from the larger visual arts vocabulary of Chicano art conspicuous in murals, posters, low rider cars, graffiti, and tattoos. 
 
Most prisons offer handkerchiefs for sale in the commissary and tacitly sanction the art. Panos are collected in great numbers by convict patrons. The Smithsonian Museum has a pano collection, recognizing the uniqueness of this art form.
 
The Safe Streets Arts Foundation, incorporating both the Prisons Foundation and the Victims Foundation, is the sponsor of the annual From-Prison-to-The-Stage Show at the Kennedy Center and the Prison Art Gallery in Washington, DC. It is supported through the generosity Lloyd S. Rubin, ex-prisoner and international arts consultant.

For more information about the free Pano art show sponsored by the City of Takoma Park and taking place at the Takoma Park Community Center (Gallery 3) from June 12 to July 25, 2009, contact Stéphan Janin at:  tpahcexhibitsdirector@hotmail.com

"The Safe Streets Arts Foundation, incorporating both the Prisons Foundation and the Victims Foundation, is proud to sponsor the annual From-Prison-to-The-Stage Show at the Kennedy Center and the Prison Art Gallery at 1600 K Street. NW, Suite 501, Washington, DC, three blocks from the White House."

A Danish court has ruled that the residents of Copenhagen's Christiania neighborhood have no right to use the property they have called home since 1971.

A precisely two minute YouTube ad for the Showtime program "Weeds" offers "A Brief History of Weed." The video begins with medical marijuana use documented in China in 2727 BC -- about 2,300 years too early for the Buddha image they use to represent it, but that's nitpicking. Flamethrower imagery at 1:06, representing the beginning of federal marijuana prohibition, is very effective, and post-Prop. 215 marijuana storefront footage is downright exciting. Check it out -- check out the Weeds season premiere on June 8th too. (Via The Daily Dish blog's "Cool Ad Watch.")

Phelps resumed competition this weekend, prompting Jim Caple at ESPN to call for a debate on legalizing marijuana:

We need to hear all sides, as part of a serious discussion on this subject, and then make a rational decision about whether marijuana should be legal in this country.

What we do not need is to waste any more energy fretting over a college-age athlete smoking pot and the negative lesson it sends to the nation's youth. Otherwise the negative message kids will learn from Phelps' bong hit is this: Adults are too busy shouting about meaningless crap to intelligently discuss what is actually important.

Damn straight. I'm assuming, of course, that he's referring to those who condemned Phelps and not those of us who launched an angry boycott against Kellogg's. Because that was totally necessary.

Marijuana aficionados and reform supporters took to the streets of more than a hundred towns and cities across the globe last weekend in phase one of the annual

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Considering that he vetoed a hemp bill in 2006, this is about as good a statement as I would expect from him:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says California should study other nations' experiences in legalizing and taxing marijuana, although he is not supporting the idea.

He says it's time to debate proposals such as a bill introduced in the state Legislature earlier this year that would treat marijuana like alcohol.

State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, a San Francisco Democrat, says taxing marijuana at $50 per ounce would bring more than $1 billion a year to the state.

Schwarzenegger said during a Tuesday news conference that "it's time for debate" on the idea. [NBC]

I like what's happening with this "let's debate it" line we keep hearing lately. It's a way for public officials to show interest in the subject without alienating anyone who feels strongly about the issue. Perhaps it has come to the Governator's attention that 56% of Californians support legalizing marijuana.

Considering the famous Schwarzenegger-smoking-pot video that's all over the web, some will accuse him of hypocrisy should his position ultimately fall anywhere short of outright support for legalization. Still, it's notable in and of itself that we're beginning to see politicians shifting away from knee-jerk opposition to reform, in favor of the more open-minded position of endorsing a debate on the subject.

[Courtesy of Prisons Foundation]

Even as our director Dennis Sobin prepared to go to jail in October 2009 for violating a court order by attending a City Hall public hearing, he planned his escape.

We were pleased to furnish him with the escape tools he needed. They consisted primarily of writing paper and music composition paper. Dennis explains: "That's all I needed to get out of prison. I used the writing paper to author books and articles, and the music paper to compose music. In this way my mind was able to escape from jail, even as my body stayed behind."

On April 16, 2009, with his six-month sentence completed, Dennis's body was able to join his mind on the outside. Welcome home Dennis!

Don't forget: When in Washington, DC, please visit the Prison Art Gallery, 1600 K St. NW, Suite 501, Washington, DC where you will find over 1000 works of art by imprisoned artists from across America.

announcement from Samuel Goldwyn Films

If you don't want 10,000 people to smoke pot on your campus on 4/20, the last thing you should do is send them a note ahead of time encouraging them not to do that:

TO: All CU-Boulder Students
FROM: Office of the Chancellor
DATE: April 15, 2009
SUBJECT: A statement from the CU-Boulder leadership to CU Students on the 4-20 gathering

Dear Students:

As another April 20 approaches, we are faced with concerns from students, parents, alumni, Regents, and community members about a repeat of last year’s 4/20 “event.”

Let us start by saying that we share their concerns. A gathering of thousands on our campus for the sole purpose of engaging in unlawful activity is contrary to everything that CU-Boulder stands for and is in no way condoned. This event only serves to harm the reputation of this great university and is comprised in large part of individuals with no investment in the university at all.

The increasingly large crowds that have gathered in recent years present safety risks for participants, whether students or people not affiliated with the campus. This activity violates a number of campus regulations designed to provide for the well-being of our campus and neighboring community.

On April 20, 2009, we hope that you will choose not to participate in unlawful activity that debases the reputation of your University and degree…[CelebStoner]

Oh, you are so screwed now. Whose idea was this? The administration should have just been thankful that 4/20 lands on a Monday this year and left it at that. You just had to challenge them, didn't you? Well, bring a gas mask to work on Monday, you genius.

Dear Friends,

The Prisons Foundation is now working with nonprofit organizations to set up in-office branches of the world famous Prison Art Gallery. If you have only a wall in your office to spare and a corner for a small attractive art rack to display prison art (it looks like a magazine rack), you can take advantage of this no-risk opportunity to have your own mini Prison Art Gallery!

In the last six years the, the Prisons Foundation has used prison art to heighten public awareness of the humanity of prisoners and increase its revenue. Last year alone, the D.C. Commission on the Etas and Humanities and the Art Appreciation Foundation (headed by ex prisoner philanthropist Lloyd S. Rubin) awarded us more than $115,000 in grants. You can do as well or better!

You owe it to the prisoners in your state and to the bottom line of your organization to consider this no-cost, no-obligation opportunity! Below is the proposal agreement you would sign to receive 50 - 100 pieces of beautiful art by imprisoned masters to get you started:

Agreement to Establish an In-Office Branch of the Prison Art Gallery

1) This agreement is between (your organization; herein called the "sponsor") and the Prisons Foundation (herein called the "Foundation").

2) The Sponsor will establish and operate a branch of the Prison Art Gallery at the Sponsor's office or other designated address.

3) The Foundation will supply original art made in prison to be displayed and sold to the Sponsor on a contingency basis. The Sponsor pays shipping of $2.00 per art piece in advance of shipment, or supplies its UPS, Fed Ex, etc. shipping number to cover the cost of shipping.

4) The Foundation gives the Sponsor permission to use the name "Prison Art Gallery."

5) The Sponsor will keep regular hours and will not charge any admission to the public to view Prison Art Gallery artwork.

6) The Sponsor will offer the art for sale using set-donation guidelines outlined by the Foundation, but if any of the pieces of art are not sold during a six month time period the Sponsor may offer them at whatever donations-price it can negotiate with potential buyers.

7) Of the donations received, the Sponsor will keep 40% (forty percent), with the remainder going to the Foundation (to cover art preparation costs and profit sharing with the prison artists).

8) The Sponsor is allowed to accept additional art from other (non-Foundation) sources as long as the art has been created by prisoners or ex prisoners. The Sponsor will give the Foundation 10% (ten percent) of gross sales of art that comes from non-Foundation sources (to cover the expenses of publicity and ongoing support that the Foundation will supply).

9) The Foundation will include the Sponsor's name in all of the Foundation's publicity, press releases, publications and mailings.

10) The Foundation will provide the Sponsor with copies of successful grants proposals it has used to win grants for the Sponsor to utilize.

11) Money due to the Foundation for art sales by the Sponsor will be calculated and paid by the Sponsor to the Foundation each quarter on January 5th, April 5th, July 5th and October 5th.

12) New art will be provided by the Foundation to the Sponsor quarterly as pieces are sold by the Sponsor.

13) The Sponsor will send whatever unsold pieces it wishes back to the Foundation and will receive new pieces in return. This will allow the Sponsor to have a rotating display and to always have a fresh inventory. The Sponsor will pay shipping costs both ways.

14) The Sponsor has the option of purchasing from the Foundation limited edition prison art prints for the wholesale price of $10.00 (ten dollars) each, with the Foundation paying for shipping costs. These prints are 11" x 17" hand-mounted on 16" x 20" art boards, individually numbered and encased in clear, acetate protective sleeves. These prison-created works of art can be sold by the Sponsor for $25.00 - $100.00 each, with the Sponsor keeping all of the revenue received.

15) This agreement can be terminated by either party with a 90-day notice, at which time the Sponsor will return (at its own expense) all unsold art provide by the Foundation, and cease using the name Prison Art Gallery.

Now that you have read this proposed agreement, we hope you will take the next step by emailing us information about your organization so that we can discuss the next step for establishing a branch of the Prison Art Gallery at your location

Yours for justice,

Dennis Sobin
Prisons Foundation
1600 K Street NW
Suite #501
Washington, D.C. 20006

A CALL FOR SUPPORT: The Prisons Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC that promotes the arts and education in prison and alternatives to incarceration. We are now accepting tax deductable donations. The support of our supporters, quite bluntly, is what keeps us going. Please consider making a tax deductible donation to the Prisons Foundation so that we may continue to promote the arts in prison and help encourage the wonderful atistic talent we cultivate everyday.

*Note the views in this letter are those of Dennis Sobin. Please send your comments directly to him.

Dear Friends,

We are expecting an outstanding "From Prison to the Stage" show at the Kennedy Center this year (Labor Day weekend). Excellent plays and proposals sent to our review committee continue to arrive weekly. Playwright and Virginia inmate Hakim M. Abdul-Wasi sent us his terrific play "The Love that Divides." It compellingly tells the story of the turmoil in a Christian family when one of its members returns home as a converted and committed Muslim. It got high rankings by our review committee.

Another excellent submission is by the Judy Dworin Performance Project. It's a collaboration between this well-known performance group and women at a maximum security prison in Connecticut. Entitled "Time In," here is an eye-opening and moving multi-arts piece that that integrates dance, music and dialogue in exposing the hopes and hardships of women in prison.

In other news about our production "From Prison to the Stage;" we have a contact in Michelle Obama's office and have invited the First Lady to be one of our presenters.

Stay tuned for more exciting updates about this widely acclaimed annual event that gives imprisoned playwrights and composers the recognition and prominence they deserve.

Yours for justice,

Dennis Sobin
Prisons Foundation
1600 K Street NW
Suite #501
Washington, D.C. 20006

A CALL FOR SUPPORT: The Prisons Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC that promotes the arts and education in prison and alternatives to incarceration. We are now accepting tax deductable donations. The support of our supporters, quite bluntly, is what keeps us going. Please consider making a tax deductible donation to the Prisons Foundation so that we may continue to promote the arts in prison and help encourage the wonderful atistic talent we cultivate everyday:

*Note the views in this letter are those of Dennis Sobin. Please send your comments directly to him.

Beware San Malverde! Watch out, Santa Muerte!

Dear Friends,

We recently added many improvements to our website, including regular updates to our popular "News You Can Use" section. New "unique ID" web-site counter, gives you a unique and easy way to win prizes. Just visit Prisons Foundation and view your unique visitor number at the bottom of the page. If you are the 500th, 1000th of 1,5000 visitor (or any interval of 500th visitors) you win your choice of our prison related music CD!

If you visitor number on the counter shows you to be a winner, simply email us at kevin@prisonsfoundation.org and let us know which of the following CD's you would like us to send you as a prize:

• Prison Tracks: Instrumental guitar duets recorded in prison by Steve Andrew and Dennis Sobin.
• A Stitch in Time: (a Lloyd S. Rubin Production) A moving holocaust musical written in prison by Lee Amirault and Dennis Sobin

When contacting us with your "visit" number please be sure to include the full name and address where you would like your CD prize to be sent. Also note the approximate time of your visit to our website so we can verify your visitor ID.
Thank you for your continuing interest and support of our work; and good luck!

Yours for justice,

Dennis Sobin
#206757
C.T.F. D-3B #10
1901 E Street SE
Washington, D.C. 20003

A CALL FOR SUPPORT: The Prisons Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC that promotes the arts and education in prison and alternatives to incarceration. We are now accepting tax deductable donations. The support of our supporters, quite bluntly, is what keeps us going. Please consider making a tax deductible donation to the Prisons Foundation so that we may continue to promote the arts in prison and help encourage the wonderful atistic talent we cultivate everyday:

*Note the views in this letter are those of Dennis Sobin. Please send your comments directly to him.

The New York Post dropped a bombshell over the weekend:

A "friend" of Vice President Joseph Biden's daughter, Ashley, is attempting to hawk a videotape that he claims shows her snorting cocaine at a house party this month in Delaware.
…
The video, which the shooter initially hoped to sell for $2 million before scaling back his price to $400,000, shows a 20-something woman with light skin and long brown hair taking a red straw from her mouth, bending over a desk, inserting the straw into her nostril and snorting lines of white powder.

Thus far, no media outlet has purchased the video, and Huffington Post is reporting that it was filmed without consent. As to whether the tape is authentic, we'll have to wait and see, but my gut tells me the Biden family would be making noise right now if this were all a big hoax. They haven’t said anything.

Despite the greed and nastiness that brought this matter to our attention, we're now confronted with yet another major celebrity drug use scandal that is far from typical. If, in fact, Joe Biden's daughter is a cocaine user, there will be a very public conversation in which the vice president's history of aggressive drug war posturing will be juxtaposed against the drug use taking place in his own family. As the administration pushes a hardline response to the drug war violence in Mexico, Ashley Biden could easily become symbolic of the American drug user whose disposable income subsidizes the cartels and renders our enforcement efforts impotent.

Like the Michael Phelps saga, it's a story that tells itself and requires little to no narration from advocates for drug policy reform. Ashley will rightly be perceived as the victim of an unscrupulous associate who violated her privacy for personal gain. Her alleged drug use shouldn't (and hopefully won't) ruin her career. Who knows, maybe she could become president some day. So long as the vast and infinitely clumsy arm of the law doesn’t get involved here, no one's life needs to be ruined. Stay tuned.

Dear Friends,

During the months he has spent in jail (which will soon come to an end) our Director Dennis Sobin has completed the second book he set out to write at the beginning of his incarceration. Dennis was incarcerated for going to D.C. City Hall (by invitation) to testify at a public hearing in defiance of an unconstitutional court order that his son (an Assistant District Attorney General that works in City Hall) had placed against him. The case is in appeal and being reviewed (many thanks to James Butler Esq., the ACLU and the legal team from Georgetown).

The first book Dennis completed in jail is entitled "Outsider Art On The Inside: Understanding and Helping Imprisoned Artists." It is being type-set and prepared for publication and will soon be available at the Prisons Foundation website: (www.prisonsfoundation.org).

Dennis' second book, "From Prison to the Kennedy Center: Starting Over at the Top" profiles many individuals and organizations. Dennis also discusses encounters with the legal system and notable activists, artists, convicts and individuals he has met over the last forty years of his activism including: Bobby Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and ex prisoner philanthropist Lloyd S. Rubin among many others. Below are the final paragraphs from this book:

Midway through the 66th year of my life, while still in jail, a dream came true when I was visited and interviewed by a feature writer for the prominent national Music magazine "Spin." Many established artists would kill to get into this popular and influential publication, much less go to jail for it.

After writer David Peisner and I discussed my musical and Foundation goals and accomplishments, I mentioned my political plans. David asked, "Do you think you'd have much of a chance of making an impact since you don't have clean hands?" David knows about the false allegations and relentless persecution in Florida that earlier resulted in ten years of imprisonment, and the tricks my son and sister pulled to re-incarcerate me on my return (after asking them for an accounting of my inheritance and personal savings).

I answered, "To me, clean hands are empty hands.....mine are experienced hands." David already knew they were musical ones, having listened to my numerous CD's that I had recorded both inside and outside the underbelly of society: prison.

About that underbelly, our political leaders would do well to spend some time there. Perhaps not a lengthy amount as I have done, but at least some period. They would then see the results of the mindless laws, mistake-prone judges and socially insulated and politically motivated members of the establishment's "lock em up" crowd. And they would understand the words of the sad but wise ex con I met in 1965 that helped shape my life: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." -Martin Luther King Jr. "Letter from Birmingham jail."

Yours for justice,

Dennis Sobin
#206757
C.T.F. D-3B #10
1901 E Street SE
Washington, D.C. 20003

A CALL FOR SUPPORT: The Prisons Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC that promotes the arts and education in prison and alternatives to incarceration. We are now accepting tax deductable donations. The support of our supporters, quite bluntly, is what keeps us going. Please consider making a tax deductible donation to the Prisons Foundation so that we may continue to promote the arts in prison and help encourage the wonderful atistic talent we cultivate everyday:

*Note the views in this letter are those of Dennis Sobin. Please send your comments directly to him

Dear Friends,

The Prison Art Gallery is expanding in a way that will benefit up to ten nonprofits organizations across America. The success of the Prison Art Gallery in Washington D.C. has been overwhelming. We've sold an enormous amount of art over the last few years and our good reputation means that we have received even more art recently; hundreds of excellent pieces from the growing pool of imprisoned artists who have heard about our gallery and advocacy work. Rather than seek larger gallery space, we have decided to place this new art with up to ten established nonprofit organizations (at no cost to them) across the country. If your organization has office space and an active membership, you will qualify. The only expense incurred by these "satellite galleries" will be the packaging and shipping of the art pieces. There are no other expenses or obligations.

When this gorgeous and unique art gets to you - complete with artist biography and prison location - you will display it in the reception areas of your offices and offer it to your membership, customer base or the general public. Each price has a suggested donation but you can negotiate any price you wish. Of the amount you receive, your organization will keep 40% while the remainder will be forwarded to us on a quarterly basis to be shared with the artists who created the art!

We will send replacement art for the pieces you sell so you will always have a full and fresh display. Periodically their will be rotation of this art to make your collection new and interesting.

More than an opportunity to earn excellent revenue at no expense or risk, you can expect good publicity as you will be tied into our national network of galleries. The Prison Art Gallery and the Prisons Foundation always generate interest from newspapers and journalists.

We will also share with you press releases we have developed and grant proposals that have won us sizable grants from our city's grants agency (funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, now with a bigger than ever budget). All regions of the country have such agencies ready to give funds to nonprofits for unique, socially meaningful art.

To be considered for this no-cost opportunity to have a branch of the Prison Art Gallery at your location under your organizations sponsorship, kindly provide the following information:

1. Name of your organization
2. Website
3. Location/Mailing address
4. Telephone number
5. Date founded
6. Square footage of your office
7. Hours and days your office is open
8. Mission Statement
9. Contact person/email/phone

Please email this information to Kevin@prisonsfoundation.org or mail to: Prison Art Gallery, 1600 K Street NW, Suite 501, Washington, D.C. 20006.

Yours for justice,

Dennis Sobin
#206757
C.T.F. D-3B #10
1901 E Street SE
Washington, D.C. 20003

The jam band Phish played a three-night show at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia, over the weekend -- their first appearance anywhere in five years -- but it was just like old times as loc

National Review Online has a good point here. Obama's past drug use was rightfully declared off-limits during the campaign. Everyone on the left seemed to agree that was appropriate, so bludgeoning Limbaugh over his own drug use is lame.

You could make a decent argument that Limbaugh's behavior was more shocking (in light of this wildly hypocritical statement, for example), but that's really beside the point. The fact that past drug use is no longer a landmine on the campaign trail is an encouraging signal that our political culture has matured beyond the finger-wagging of the past. If we want it to stay that way, then there must be a bi-partisan truce when it comes to trashing someone's character for using drugs.

If you're actually discussing drug policy, that might be different, but just blatantly citing past drug use as evidence that someone's an asshole is not cool. This isn't about Rush Limbaugh, it's about moving beyond the "I didn't inhale" era so that we can have public discussions of drugs and drug policy that aren’t politicized and perverted to the point of absurdity.

Dear Friends,

We are pleased to announce to report that the selection of a world-class Board of Directors for our upcoming Safe Streets Arts Foundation is progressing well. We encourage others to continue to apply, however, since there are additional seats we wish to fill. We are striving for maximum diversity.

The new Safe Streets Arts Foundation will take over (from the Prison Art Gallery) and expand our annual Kennedy Center program "From Prison to the Stage" which features the work of imprisoned and formerly imprisoned playwrights and composers. The Safe Streets Arts Foundation will also establish and oversee a network of prison galleries across the U.S. (and potentially overseas) under the sponsorship of other nonprofit organizations; using as a model our successful Prison Art Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Listed below are the impressive and distinguished backgrounds of some the people who have been initially accepted to serve on the Safe Streets Arts board. Their names are being withheld pending final notification of all accepted applicants.

Current board members selected include:

• An established artist, art curator and art professor whose art is featured in a well known gallery. For the last six years she has been a mentor to imprisoned artists at a famous women's prison.

• A former prisoner who produces and hosts a popular broadcast program for a major radio station. While in prison he formed a singing group that successfully performed and toured after the members were released; including a stunning and moving production at the Kennedy Center.

• A warden of a large men's State Prison who holds a PhD and believes that "Art programs boost self-esteem." She previously served as warden of a maximum security women's prison and is a national speaker on modern prison initiatives.

• A Social Scientist and professor of Criminal Justice who acquired his graduate degree after his release from prison in 1991. He has served on government commissions responsible for funding billions of dollars into community development and crime prevention programs.

• A former elected official who is currently a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State. An international traveler and collector of art, he holds a law degree and a master degree in International Affairs.

If you are interested in submitting an application for a position on the board, please send a resume and a brief letter of introduction and interest to:

Prisons Foundation
C/o: Board Selection Committee
1600 K Street NW
Suite #501
Washington, D.C. 20006

Yours for justice,

Dennis Sobin
#206757
C.T.F. D-3B #10
1901 E Street SE
Washington, D.C. 20003

A CALL FOR SUPPORT: The Prisons Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC that promotes the arts and education in prison and alternatives to incarceration. We are now accepting tax deductable donations. The support of our supporters, quite bluntly, is what keeps us going. Please consider making a tax deductible donation to the Prisons Foundation so that we may continue to promote the arts in prison and help encourage the wonderful atistic talent we cultivate everyday.

*Note the views in this letter are those of Dennis Sobin. Please send your comments directly to him.

"SOBIN BEHIND THE WALL"

Mobile Prison Art Gallery Completes Successful Southern Tour

February 2009

Dear Friends,

We welcome back to Washington, D.C. our Outreach Coordinator, Donovan Berry and our mobile Prison Art Gallery. Donovan spent more than a month on the road touring several southern states with the popular & transportable Prison Art Gallery. A converted mobile home, it was purchased by the Prisons Foundation last year thanks to a settlement won against a government regulatory agency (our hats off, as usual, to the American Civil Liberties Union).

Donovan traveled with his family who represented the Prisons Foundation (and the creativity of imprisoned artists!) well and placed many works with both art collectors and justice advocates.

Despite a poor economy the tour proved successful with many new friends made and insights shared. The cost of the trip was underwritten through art sales and the continuous help of our supporters. A big thank you to all the art collectors, justice advocates and members of the general public who stopped and shopped. Stay tuned for photos of the event!

Yours for justice,

Dennis Sobin

#206757

C.T.F. D-3B #10

1901 E Street SE

Washington, D.C. 20003

Please send theatrical any submissions to to Prisons Foundation, C/o Selection Comit.  1600 K Street NW, Suite 501Washington, DC 20006 (kevin@prisonsfoundation.org).

 *Note the views in this letter are those of Dennis Sobin. Please send your comments directly to him.