To the A.R.T. PoC Affinity Group, members of our staff, artists, social media followers, audience, and community who continue to hold the A.R.T. accountable—thank you.
These past few weeks, we have taken intentional time offline to reflect on how we, as a predominantly white-staffed institution, have upheld white supremacy, racism, and anti-Blackness in our organization and in our industry.
Beginning with a series of company meetings, we have undertaken a staff-wide process to embed anti-racism into the foundation of our theater practice and culture. We are working towards examining and undoing racist policies in all aspects of our institution, including our structure, programming, philanthropy, communications, pedagogy, and workplace culture. Once we have completed an action plan and our full staff is on board, we will share it publicly.
In the meantime, we recognize the privilege of our platform.
We will continue to use our social media channels to celebrate the voices of artists, theatermakers, and academics in our community, centering Black, Indigenous, and People of Color; to share anti-racist resources for ourselves and our followers; to amplify actions and events, including Black Lives Matter protests and vigils; and to inspire continued conversation and theatermaking.
We are grateful to everyone who shared feedback with us, and for those who will continue to hold us accountable as we navigate this work with intentionality and care.