Yendor

Founder and CEO of Yendor Productions, Rodney Gilbert has been working in professional theater for over 30 years. Yendor Productions was founded in 2003 to meet the challenges for the underserved artists and community. Yendor Productions produced its first arts event with local Newark artist Jerry Gant, Hassan Hamilton, and Yucef Mayes at NJPAC. Yendor Productions has developed and facilitated workshops for Plainfield Public Schools under the direction of Laura Fatal, Director of Visual and Performing Arts. The Turrell Foundation in 2005 and 2006 funded the “I Have a Dream” (IHAD) program in Plainfield, NJ for Yendor Productions to produce a documentary on IHAD and YendorArts filmmaking classes. Yendor developed and implemented in 2005 a Rites of Passage program for Children’s Aid in its partnership with The Artist Collective for Social Change which is entering into its third year. As a graduate of the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Mr. Gilbert earned a BFA in 1989 and has been serving the arts community as an arts educator and administrator for various institutions and organizations. Mr. Gilbert is a teaching artist for the education department at NJPAC, Passage Theatre, and Arts Horizon to name a few. He acted as the performing arts coordinator for New Community Corporation, Arts Department and headed all of their arts programming until the founding of Yendor Productions. He is a professional actor and director having work on stage, film, and television. Gilbert is an Adjunct Professor at Drew University for the theatre department. Under the direction of Yendor Productions, Mr. Gilbert and his staff and subcontractors oversaw the art education portion ZOOM: WE’RE GOING PLACES an initiative of Newark Central Ward’s Councilwoman Dana Rone’s 40-week after school program which offered a viable tutorial and arts program for 14 CBO sites located throughout the city of Newark. Under Mr. Gilbert’s direction Yendor recently created in partnership with Drew University and Newark Public School’s a civic engagement theatre class whose participants include Drew and Newark Public School students.