Open Hearts Open Minds

It started with a gift.

Years ago, Artichoke Music's former owner, Steve Einhorn, donated several dozen ukuleles through Open Hearts Open Minds. The women at Coffee Creek asked for a class, and kept asking, until Don Kern stepped in as lead facilitator.

That one class has grown beyond Coffee Creek. Now, there is a ukulele class at South Fork Fire Camp in Tillamook too.

From a few dozen gifted ukuleles to music in two prisons. That is how it starts.

This program is supported in part by our donors at the Zera Foundation.

It started with a gift. Years ago, Artichoke Music's former owner, Steve Einhorn, donated several dozen ukuleles through Open Hearts Open Minds. The women at Coffee Creek asked for a class, and kept asking, until Don Kern stepped in as lead facilitator. That one class has grown beyond Coffee Creek. Now, there is a ukulele class at South Fork Fire Camp in Tillamook too. From a few dozen gifted ukuleles to music in two prisons. That is how it starts. This program is supported in part by our donors at the Zera Foundation. #UkeNPlay #ArtsInCorrections #ZeraFoundation #MoreThanANumber

Open Hearts Open Minds board president Josh, took A Midsummer Night's Dream in Prison to San Antonio today for the Connecting 4 Justice conference. Connecting 4 Justice International

Years ago, a group of men inside Two Rivers learned Shakespeare's lines in a prison yard. Today those same performances held a room in Texas.

Grateful to everyone who made room for this film and the men in it.

This is why we do the work.

THANK YOU FOR THE PICTURE .feafter50 ♥️

Big news. The Oregonian came inside Coffee Creek to watch our Up A Creek Theatre class, and the story is out.

Reporter Chiara Profenna spent time with the women of Up A Creek Theatre and wrote about how theater is changing the trajectory of their lives.

This is why we do the work.

Read the full story:
https://www.oregonlive.com/living/2026/07/how-theater-is-changing-the-trajectory-of-incarcerated-womens-lives-at-coffee-creek.html

Thank you to everyone who makes these classes possible, including the City of Portland's Office of Arts & Culture.

openheartsopenminds.org

Some days the work looks like this. Two women, one theater class, and a laugh that fills the whole room.

This is what your support makes possible. Theater, creative writing, lyric writing, film, and ukulele classes for incarcerated women and men across Oregon.

Thank you to the City of Portland's Office of Arts & Culture. Programs like this exist because of you.

If you believe in second chances, share this post. Someone on your feed might be the reason the next class happens.

openheartsopenminds.org

A huge thank you to the Oregon Arts Commission for your generous donation to Open Hearts Open Minds.

Because of supporters like you, our classes keep running in Oregon's prisons, theatre, music, writing and more, all created by the people inside. Your gift brings creativity, connection and second chances to every room we enter.

We are so grateful.

Open Hearts Open Minds' visual arts class at Coffee Creek is in full swing, and the supply shelves need restocking.

Watercolor paper, brushes, and watercolor cards are at the top of the list. Every brush and sheet of paper you give lands directly in the hands of women making art while incarcerated.

Shop our wish list here:

https://www.dickblick.com/myaccount/wishlist/3JP0742SG64K6/

Thank you for keeping the creativity flowing.