Statement of Solidarity

Arroyo Repertory Theatre (ART) stands by our mission of collaborating with communities to nurture and support the development of voice, choice, and agency through transformative arts experiences. We acknowledge and understand that systemic racism and the contributing silence of arts institutions damage artists of color, fractures communities, and is detrimental to the integrity of art. 

 

In an effort to use our resources and community position to actively support, uplift, and amplify the voices and experiences of BIPOC* artists in the San Gabriel Valley, ART pledges the following to ourselves and our community:

 

• Dialogue

  • We pledge to provide focus into issues of marginalization and prejudice throughout all ART programming

  • We pledge to engage in critical discourse around the content we present, both internally in our organization and with the community

  • We pledge to continue and expand our commitment to organizational accountability and transparency

• Education

  • We pledge to take organizational and individual responsibility for the education of our leadership and staff in the contexts of our personal, intersectional connections to systems of oppression

  • We pledge to research tools for discussing difficult topics and instigate conversations in our art, in order to foster these same conversations in our community

  • We pledge to continue our efforts to integrate culturally responsive arts curriculum in all class offerings

• Celebration

  • We pledge to seek out a diversity of programming and encourage both the reimagining of classic stories as well as the creation of new canons that highlight the varied experiences within our community

  • We pledge to partner with artists and organizations to actively pursue a diversity of experiences and voices that reflects the greater community, both in casting and programming at large

  • We pledge to open our doors to bring together various communities who may not have an arts space, seek out audiences that have been historically excluded from arts experiences, and act as an outlet to provide safety for individuals to express facets of their identities, ethnicities, and sexualities in conversation with the whole

 

In response to the above pledges, ART will begin this journey with the following actionable steps. ART will analyze and continually review our production planning methods to ensure we both cast and partner with other artists to actively pursue a diversity of voices that reflect the greater community. In addition, as we continue growing as an organization, ART will actively commission works by and for BIPOC, LGBTQIA+**, and otherwise underrepresented artistic communities. We will continue to seek new ways to use our resources to platform diverse artists, particularly those who are underrepresented in the world of arts organizations.

 

This pledge stands as the renewal of ART’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. We promise to uphold this pledge by analyzing our successes and addressing our failures as we make them. We remain dedicated to our vision of an equitable future and hope you partner with us on the beautiful road ahead. 

 

*BIPOC = Black, Indigenous, and People of Color

**LGBTQIA+ = Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, and other communities