Press Conference at Prison Art Gallery

DC Corrections Director Devon Brown and Representatives from Prisons Across America To Receive Donated Guitars for Inmates A press conference will be held to present new guitars to DC Corrections Director Devon Brown and other officials representing prisons from across America. The guitars are intended for use by prison inmates for therapeutic and rehabilitative purposes. They were donated by well-known English singer-songwriter Billy Bragg. In addition to Devon Brown, other officials who will attend the press conference to receive guitars include Jolene Constance, Assistant Warden of the C. Paul Phelps Correctional Center in Louisiana; Chaplain George Holley of the Craggy Correctional Center in North Carolina; Barbara Allen of the Maryland Correctional Training Center; officials from St. Elizabeth's hospital John Howard forensic unit, a 200-bed prison in Washington, DC; and a representative from the Handlon Correctional Facility in Michigan. On hand at the press conference to test and play the guitars before they are presented to the prison officials will be two former jailhouse guitarists, Ron Kemp and Dennis Sobin. Since their release from prison, Kemp and Sobin have had success with music, both having recorded CDs and having appeared at the Kennedy Center. Sobin also serves as director of the Prisons Foundation, which is sponsoring this program. The guitar giveway initiative began this past summer when Joe Shade, along with the Prisons Foundation, organized a concert to raise money for guitars for a local prison drawing inspiration from Billy Bragg's Jail Guitar Doors program in Great Britain. After hearing of the success of his program stateside, Billy Bragg raised money during his recent US tour specifically for the US based Jail Guitar Doors instrument donation program. "We are a musical country and we know that the demand is huge for musical instruments in prisons in America," Shade says. "We are pleased that Billy Bragg has helped us get this project going." The guitars being donated were provided at cost by Chuck Levin's Washington Music Center. Shade and Sobin hope that the press conference will encourage musical instrument donations from others. All donations of instruments are tax deductible since the Prisons Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. For further information, please call 202-393-1511.