WASHINGTON, DC–Writer/Producer Deborah J. Schull’s new half-hour film Lens & Pens: Art in an Unexpected Place, to play continuously at MOCA DC from June 12 through 26, offers a rare glimpse of life inside the maximum-security fortress known as the John Howard Pavilion of DC’s St. Elizabeths Hospital. Deemed ‘not guilty by reason of insanity’ by the criminal courts, long-time residents Ronnie Crooks, Pamela Thomas, and Kevin McCain ultimately “luck out” when in 1989 then-social worker and chief of the hospital’s Dual Diagnosis Treatment Branch, Ed Washington, conceives the Lens & Pens, Brushes & Friends program. His goal: to create an arts program that will bridge the divide between this often-ostracized treatment population and the outside world.

Framed by Ed’s recollections of the thriving poetry, photography, and painting workshop’s evolution; laced with interviews of Ronnie, Pam, and Kevin and their devoted volunteer-teachers; and with footage of the participants’ highly skilled artwork, the documentary gives every indication that Ed’s hopes will be realized. With public exhibits, performances, and even sales of their art, and with substantial leaps in artistic skill and self-confidence, Ronnie, Pam, and Kevin grow beyond anything they could have imagined–and must now balance a newfound freedom with an uncertain future.