Junior Players is a non-profit organization that has provided free arts education and programming to children and youth in North Texas for over 66 years.
The organization provides camps and programs specifically targeted to “underfunded and underserved” areas.
“There’s definitely a need for the arts in our community,” Abbey Stigler, the communications manager of Junior Players, states. “As a staff member at Junior Player, I get to see first-hand the impact the arts have on our participants. We get to see them before they start, during the process, and then afterward.”
They offer programs in theater, visual arts, dance, broadcast journalism, graphic design, and more.
According to Stigler, over 80% of Junior Player participants report feeling more confident and better prepared for life challenges after participating in their programs. “Many of our participants go on to pursue the arts as a career,” said Stigler.
While COVID-19 interrupted services from many organizations, it also caused many of them to innovate new ways of interacting with the public. Junior Players was one of these organizations.
“As a team, we were very determined to stay present for our youth in our community, especially during COVID times when it feels like there’s such a disconnection,” Stigler states.
Employing a staff of over 100 Dallas art teachers, Junior Players developed virtual programs that allowed them to stay relevant to youth both in Dallas and other parts of the country. They have since developed hybrid programs used to continuously reach other areas of the U.S.
Junior Players will host two new shows in August:
1) 12th Night: A Rock Musical [Aug. 3 – Aug. 8]
2) Amplify [Aug. 19 – Aug. 21]
The shows will be open to the public with the highest ticket pricing at $15.
For information and tickets on their upcoming shows, visit their page here.
