Spur Local recently released a short documentary that features 826DC alongside the Young Playwrights’ Theater! 826DC is honored to be a safe space where, as Executive Director Robyn Lingo states, “every young person knows that they are important, that people want to hear what they have to say.”
Watch “Spaces to Grow” here, and learn more about this project from Spur Local’s Catalogue Blog post, copied below.
Spaces to Grow
Posted on August 19, 2025 by Spur Local
This summer, Spur Local’s Communications and Civic Engagement Intern Kyle Reid created a short documentary highlighting two local arts & culture nonprofits, 826DC and Young Playwrights’ Theater.
826DC helps DC students strengthen their writing skills, share what matters to them, and build a lifelong relationship with writing.
Young Playwrights’ Theater inspires young people to realize the power of their own voices. YPT provides inspiration, tools, and opportunities for young and emerging artists to develop and share their stories.
DC is a place that celebrates art. This is a city of politics, but also a city of music and museums. There is a rich history of, and respect for, creatives performing at their highest. People with this artistic passion are all over the District. There’s so much artistic talent in our youth, but many of them struggle to find places to express themselves outside of the classroom. When children have a passion for the arts and the space for artistic expression, what does that look like? What does that do for them, for their communities?
“It is always important as a community for us to wrap ourselves around supporting every young person to have an education that inspires them, that motivates them, that engages them, that tells them that they matter and that there is a life of possibility out there for them,” said Robyn Lingo, Executive Director of 826DC. “There are so many things in our world that tell young people that what they have to say doesn’t matter, or that they need to fit into this box, or follow these instructions, or do the assignment in this way. I think finding your voice, for me, is more about what we as adults do to create an environment where every young person knows that they are important, that people want to hear what they have to say.”
“There are sometimes limited opportunities for young people to engage with the arts. When we look at a lot of school curricula, a lot of what students learn is focused on testing, and art seems almost like an afterthought. But there are a lot of students who are able to express themselves in ways, through writing, through performance, that they ordinarily don’t feel equipped to do in a normal school day,” said Farah Lawal Harris, Artistic Director of Young Playwrights’ Theater. “This type of work gives young people confidence in themselves. It exposes them to skill sets that they didn’t even know about, and it helps them just imagine a greater world for themselves and even what career options they could explore.”
Credits
Created by Kyle Reid and Amanda Liaw, Spur Local
Featuring (In Order of Appearance):
- Robyn Lingo, Executive Director, 826DC
- Tyonna J., Poet
- Wisdom N., Poet
- Farah Lawal Harris, Artistic Director, Young Playwrights’ Theater
- Amira Al Amin, Playwright of “Dresses that Twirl”
Additional 826DC Footage Courtesy of: Sarah Richman, Associate Director of Communications and Development, 826DC
Additional YPT Footage Courtesy of: Cody Bahn, Communications Manager, YPT
Archival Photos Courtesy of: DC Public Library
Music Courtesy of: Artlist
- Ballerino by Yehezkel Raz
- Midnight Sun by Beneath The Mountain
- Ballerina by Yehezkel Raz
- Icicles by Yehezkel Raz
- The Kid and the Bird by SEA