OUR STORY
In the Spring of 2005, Executive Director Johnny Stallings gave two performances of his solo version of Shakespeare's King Lear at Two Rivers Correctional Institution, a state prison near Umatilla, Oregon. After each performance, he talked with the prison inmates in the audience. In the Fall of 2005, he gave two performances of Silence, and in the Spring of 2006, he gave two performances of Hamlet. (For more about his shows, see www.johnnystallings.com.) The discussions after the shows were so extraordinary, that Johnny proposed to the prison administration that he facilitate weekly dialogues with the inmates.
With financial support from Jerry Smith and the Jerry and Donna Smith Family Foundation, in July of 2006, Johnny began regularly facilitating weekly dialogues among Two Rivers prison inmates. The theme of the dialogues is: "The Stories We Tell Ourselves: How Our Thinking Shapes Our Lives." During these dialogues, prisoners discuss how to live a meaningful life while in prison, how to change one's destructive patterns of life and thought in order to find happiness and to make a positive contribution to society.
Mr. Stallings formalized this work by founding Open Hearts Open Minds. Open Hearts Open Minds had its first board meeting on July 26, 2007, at which bylaws were adopted and officers elected. On December 26, 2007, the IRS granted Open Hearts Open Minds 501 (c) 3 tax-exempt status as a public charitable organization.
Members of Johnny's dialogue group asked if they could put on a play. On March 12, 2008, they began rehearsals for a production of Shakespeare's Hamlet. They gave four performances for their fellow inmates and two performances for the general public, which included members of their families, in late September and early October of 2008. This was the first time that inmates in an Oregon prison performed a play by William Shakespeare.