The Young Actors Guild will celebrate 32 years of theatricality and the arts with a grand re-opening of the Harriet Performing Arts Center on Sunday, February 19th. The theme of the re-opening is “The Journey Continues.”
YAG was founded by Memphian Chrysti Chandler in 1991, after feeling that children did not have many outlets to occupy their time after school.
“I saw that children were just idle, not doing anything after school,” said Chandler. “Then I came to find out that the reason a lot of students are not doing anything is because they can’t afford it.”
Chandler recalls that when she was in school, she wasn’t required to pay for extracurricular activities. Sabrina Norwood, executive director for YAG, also said that with arts being taken out of the schools, this provided an opportunity for community organizations to step up.
With these sentiments, Chandler set out to start an organization that allowed children to have affordable performing arts experiences within their community.
YAG initially started with 15 students who would meet in a small theater at LeMoyne-Owen College on Saturday mornings. Years later, more than 30,000 students have been impacted by the lessons taught by Chandler and her team.
The accolades of YAG are not only seen on a local scale, but on a national one as well. Not only does the company celebrate a 98 percent graduation rate from college, but they have performed for the Tom Joyner Morning Show, The Voice, American Idol, former President Bill Clinton, and Oprah Winfrey.
One may wonder what YAG’s formula for success consists of, and according to Sabrina Norwood, the executive director for YAG, the key is accessibility. She said this provides a path for young people to grow and develop. Not only does YAG offer training in the arts, but they also provide ACT and college readiness workshops.
“We believe that any profession that you’re in, artists will certainly excel at all of those,” said Norwood. “That’s why it’s so important for us to be in the community, to be where the young people are, to be where the beat of the community is, because the heart of the community will be developed through programs like ours.”
With a number of accolades and a concrete mission and understanding, it may seem like YAG has been equipped for success; however, until recently, there’s been a key component missing: a permanent home.
While they have been operating for more than 30 years, they haven’t been able to find a space that was “just theirs.”
“We’ve been renting, leasing spaces, and we’ve kind of been from this church to that church and all over the city,” said Norwood. “We were talking, and greatly the mayor’s thinking, as well as some other community people, was that we would have an opportunity to find a space, and we did.”
The Harriet Performing Arts Center, which will be located at 2788 Lamar Avenue, was originally an old firehouse that YAG purchased for only $1.
“From there we started fundraising,” said Norwood. “We chose some nontraditional routes of fundraising, which we chose to sell popcorn, hamburgers, and hot dogs, a little bit of everything in order to fundraise for the interior.”
Norwood said that for the exterior portion, they reached out to local art agencies like ArtsMemphis and Memphis Music Initiative, combined their fundraising efforts with donations, and were able to renovate the exterior.
YAG’s grand re-opening will take place on Sunday, February 19th, at 3 p.m., at 2788 Lamar Ave. There will be a Greater Memphis Chamber official ribbon cutting, live performances, expressions from government officials, and so much more. The event is free and open to the public.
