JENNIFER BURKE 

Jennifer founded YAWS in 1998 after realizing there was an unmet need for affordable, accessible art instruction for children. Her training as an art educator happened through experience as she designed projects that highlighted the innate creativity and artistic potential within all children. Her most valuable experience has come from closely watching her students meander through the artistic process with curiosity, force, courage, and calm. By providing excellent materials and superior tools, Jennifer has seen the young artists at YAWS make magnificent, heartfelt art pieces. 

Several students have regularly attended YAWS classes since the programʼs inception. In addition to her work at YAWS, Jennifer has been the Art Specialist at Prospect Sierra School in El Cerrito for the past four and a half years. She has worked as a set designer for two San Francisco childrenʼs musical theater companies and taught stage craft and design to the participants of several childrenʼs theater groups. More recently, Jennifer has begun to design collaborative art installations that give groups of teenagers a forum for artistic expression and conversation.

KIMIKO DRESSMAN 

Kimiko has been an assistant and instructor at YAWS since the studio opened. She regularly teaches Art for Twoʼs, Threeʼs, and Fours and Fine Art for Kids as her professional expertise and interest center around early childhood education. In addition to her work at YAWS, Kimi is the assistant director of Frog Hollow Pre-School in North Berkeley.