About
Vision
Art learning and making bring people together and nurture the power of communities to connect, shape, imagine, and transform the world.
Mission
Yard Dramas develops creative experiences designed in collaboration with participants to bridge connections, increase learning and grow ideas, pathways, and solutions.
Core Values
- ARTISTIC EXCELLENCE Every human - from babies to revered elders - is an artist. Every household and business benefits from experiencing high-quality art learning and making programming.
- LIFE-LONG LEARNING Yard Dramas is committed to arts education and creative life-long learning for all. We believe collaborative art learning and making positively impacts participants' economic, health, environmental, educational, and social lives. Art learning and making occur wherever the community meets - inside, outside, and online, in schools, homes, parks, markets, cafes, streets, and elsewhere.
- OPPORTUNITY Every artist deserves the opportunity to work with a Professional Teaching Artist. Yard Dramas is accessible to everyone regardless of financial resources and circumstances and recognizes wealth, income, and privilege differences within our community.
- NATURE AS A MODEL Nature is an artist, and there are countless benefits and opportunities to telling stories and creating art in nature with the community. Built on community garden principles, Yard Dramas catalyzes collaborative art projects, inspires a renewed interest in preserving and revitalizing Prince George's County's green spaces, and nurtures stewards of the natural environment of the Anacostia Watershed.
- PROFESSIONALISM Historically, Teaching Artists have been undervalued despite their contributions to the community. Check out the Teaching Artist Guild's Pay Calculator. Your awareness of the professional challenges Teaching Artists face will move the field of teaching artistry forward and help our society recognize pay equity as a social justice issue.
HISTORY
In the early days of the pandemic, I was forced into unemployment as the world was forced to shelter in place. With 30 years as a professional Theatre Teaching Artist, I recognized how my artistry and skills to engage all ages with art learning and making experiences could serve the community. In April 2020, I began presenting drama sessions in my neighbors' yards to help young children overcome loneliness and enter into imaginary play.
TODAY
Yard Dramas creates art experiences with the community to shape and transform the world. Our work aims to:
- Create youth and teen opportunities, optimizing their potential as leaders and change-makers in their community,
- Increase social-emotional wellness and core academic learning through arts integration,
- Enrich the lives of elders, supporting them to share artfully share their stories through performance,
- Imagine solutions to issues seen in education and the environment using the power of arts-learning and arts-making.
FUTURE
Yard Dramas is pleased to announce that we anticipate receiving our certification as a woman-owned business. We will launch an exciting new online learning program tailored specifically for educators and teachers to celebrate this milestone. Stay tuned.
Yard Dramas is working on a four-stage approach to our future. STAGE ONE was our work with individual households and families during and in the immediate years following the pandemic. We experimented and played with stories and theatrical techniques tailored to individuals, always imagining what if...
STAGE TWO, where we currently are, has taken us back to schools and parks to define and imagine specific topics and issues that resonated the most with our community. We are seeking to purchase a customized electric bicycle.Imagine the magic of a Yard Dramas arriving with a bicycle wagon that opens to reveal a pop-up stage where people of all ages can co-create with Yard Drams! Bonus: A large umbrella will protect collaborators from the summer sun. I can't wait to ride around town and invite people to play with me and perform on our shared stage!
STAGE THREE, we will increase our collaborations with key community partners and stakeholders as we continue to explore and refine our programming.
STAGE FOUR, in this final stage, expect the innovative and collaborative professional performances in the most unexpected and extraordinary ways. We will work with our community partners to tell our collective story of resilience and innovation.
Download Our Capabilities Statement
LEARN MORE
Read our social story.
Check out our services.
TESTIMONIALS
MY STORY
Owner: Jennifer Ridgway
I am a third-generation Prince George's County resident and Maryland native! Here is my scoop:
- 30+ years as a Teaching Artist with a MFA in theatre for young people. I am an experienced creative journey facilitator who can cater to your unique needs, topics, interests, goals, and themes.
- Trained and experienced performing artist with a BA in acting, plus decades of private voice coaching and dance lessons. I bring that training and experience to my Yard Dramas projects!
- Annual background checks and ongoing training in specific populations, such as people with special needs, elderly, and LGBTQ+ populations, to create the safest and most welcoming environment for all of my participants.
- Trained in social-emotional learning and critical literacy.
- Experience in simultaneous Spanish interpretation, audio description, and open captioning.
- Anacostia Watershed Steward and Climate Reality Leadership Corps Member and lifelong gardener.