Incarceration

The number of women in U.S. prisons has increased 757% in the last 30 years — and the prison system does not have proper services to deal with the population.

Thanks to a grant we received from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the Prisons Foundation throughout the year has been conducting free all-day workshops for individuals who wish to become a mentor to imprisoned artists. We are now having our last workshop--a wrap up one that's just half a day long--and invite all to attend, whether or not you have been to a previous workshop. This summary workshop will feature the highlights of previous workshops. The workshop is free and refreshments will be served. It is ideal for anyone who attended any of the previous workshops as well as for new participants who seek to work either as a volunteer or paid staff member in a jail or prison. Attend this free workshop on Saturday, September 27, 1 to 5 pm. You'll learn what it takes to work in a jail or prison to foster artistic development among inmates. You'll receive this valuable training from experienced correctional officials (from both public and private jails) who have made presentations at our previous seminars. The highlights of their presentations will be show on video. You will also benefit from the insights and knowledge of ex-prisoner artists who will serve as workshop leaders. These knowledgeable people will share their experiences with you in a relaxed and fun setting at the Prison Art Gallery in downtown Washington, DC. This is a rare opportunity to make contacts and obtain valuable information. You can be part of it all. Whether you're looking for a one afternoon per month volunteer opportunity or a full-time paid career position, you will find this workshop very worthwhile. Please call us at 202-393-1511 or email [email protected] to reserve your spot or for more information. Thank you.

Featuring journalist and author of "Women Behind Bars" Silja Talvi, founding editor of "Prison Legal News" Paul Wright, former drug war prisoner Yraida Guanipa, and Books Through Bars co-founder and a

CURE invites you to join in the thanking and congratulating of Alan Pogue for his book "Witness for Justice." Alan Pogue has been CURE's volunteer photographer since its first statewide prison reform convention in Texas in 1975. As CURE has expanded nationally and now internationally, so has the geography of Alan's photography.

Please join us for this very special event. This day is a day for all of us. It is the chance to turn back the tide and NOT end up like Illinois, with 47 prisons and 30,000 inmates in re-entry each year. Or, Wisconsin, with 32 prisons.

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.

We are pleased to announce that the following will be performing during a three-hour show at the Kennedy Center. This free event is part of a weekend Page-to-Stage festival at the Kennedy Center celebrating the performing arts. We thank FAMM, Drug Policy Alliance, NORML, VOMA, Justice Policy Institute, Grace Episcopal Church, First Trinity Lutheran Curch, Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, Govrn.Net, Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, ACLU, Art Appreciation Foundation, DC Public Defender Service, and other outstanding organizations for their support.

Check for local listings at http://www.pbs.org/pov/local_broadcast_v3.html. In the 1990s, at the height of the prison-building boom, a prison opened in rural America every 15 days. "Prison Town, USA" tells the story of Susanville, one California town that tries to resuscitate its economy by building a prison ­ with unforeseen consequences.

We are pleased to announce that the Prison Art Gallery, in conjunction with its parent organization the Prisons Foundation, will be presenting a three-hour show at the Kennedy Center. The show, entitled "How Music Helped Me Escape from Prison," consists of singers and musicians who put their interest in music to productive ends while behind bars. Everyone is invited to attend this free event.

Please join us in Washington, D.C. for a meeting bringing together criminal justice advocates from around the U.S. to discuss racial discrimination in the U.S. criminal justice system as it relates to the UN Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD). The U.S. Government has just filed a report to the UN Committee that oversees the treaty on its efforts to end racial discrimination in the U.S. Non-governmental organizations now have an opportunity to provide input to the Committee regarding U.S. compliance through "shadow reports."