A letter from our Executive Director

This winter, we embark on a major construction project to upgrade our facility. These renovations will enable more workforce training, teaching and practicing the industrial arts, but will also limit access to the shop for at least six months.

There is vital work to be done during this time.

While our hiatus from active programs will prepare us for growth and new opportunities, we need your help to ensure that together we enter 2019 resilient and strong.

As construction begins, our staff of ten will keep working along with dozens of teachers, artists, and advisors. Everyone will continue their collaborative endeavors of advocacy, program design, community organizing, and innovation.

The Public Projects department will temporarily relocate to a studio just down the street to continue its essential role of supporting artists and job trainees while improving our built environment through public art. All of this is what you expect from us at the Yard; it’s what we do.

Together, we’ve fostered a community defined by shared experiences. We’ve made the Yard one of those rare places where people exchange knowledge openly across disciplines, generations and diverse perspectives.

In short, Yardies are united by craft, through creation and appreciation. It’s common to hear discussion of shape, form, color, and temperature within our walls.

We are inspired by each other while we seek opportunities to express ourselves, a sentiment captured in this poem by Yardie Megan Boyaval:

I made this.
I know the person who made this.
We know the people who made it.
My community is better because we made it.
I am connected; changed and transformed,
through the experience of taking part in the making

In 2019, a restored studio awaits, and together we will fill it with the professional, educational and creative opportunities that you make possible.

We rely on you to guide us with your investments. Please make a gift today.

Sincerely,

Howie Sneider
Executive Director