About Us

CYF Team Photo

The Court Yard Fridays Team:

The team consists of family members, Homer Jackson, Lynn Washington and Kevin Washington [left to right]

Kevin Washington is a native of Staten Island, New York. For thirty years, he served as a firefighter and company officer in the New York City Fire Department (FDNY). During his time with the FDNY, he responded to both the 1993 and 2001 World Trade Center attacks. As a retiree, Kevin Washington has become a community organizer, a church deacon and assistant scoutmaster. He is an appointed member of Community Board One: whose administrative district includes Staten Island’s North Shore development areas. He is also a member of the New Brighton Coalition of Concerned Citizens and a deacon of the Brighton Heights Reformed Church, which is located in St. George.

Lynn Washington is a graphic designer and book/gift shop owner, born and raised in Staten Island, New York. After graduating from St. Peter's High School for Girls, she attended Philadelphia College of Art and graduated in 1981 with a BFA in Graphic Design. She worked in Manhattan at various design jobs, among them Essence Magazine and Lister Butler. In 1986, she married interdisciplinary artist, Homer Jackson and moved back to Philadelphia. She found employment with the Free Library of Philadelphia as a graphic designer and recently retired after 28 years. For the last five years, she has served as graphic designer for the Philadelphia Jazz Project. In 2015, she opened Books & Stuff, which offers the largest selection of Afrocentric children's books in Philly!

Homer Jackson is an interdisciplinary artist and curator from Philadelphia with a background in teaching, social service and concert production. His work is presented as installation, performance art, public art, video and audio. Mr. Jackson has received support for his work from the Wyncote Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Pew Fellowships in the Arts, Civitella Rainieri Foundation, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts and Franklin Furnace Fund For Performance Art. Homer Jackson currently serves as the director of the Philadelphia Jazz Project, whose goal is to expand the audience, increase creative opportunities and to extend the local and global conversation about the music.