STATEMENT OF SOLIDARITY
Live Arts stands in solidarity with those who denounce the use of suppression, violence, and systemic racism to silence the voices of Black and Brown people in our community and our nation.
As a historically white theater, we acknowledge that we have benefited from systems that have reinforced institutional inequities to the detriment of many Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.
We are committed to dismantling the systems, policies, and practices that have perpetuated patterns of injustice. We understand that this requires a collective, sustained effort at every level of Live Arts. We are up to the task.
DEI STRATEGY TEAM
In fall 2020, Live Arts formed a 13-member DEI Strategy Team to inform, challenge, and advise us on how to become a more welcoming, inclusive theater. After two years, the work of the original DEI Strategy Team transitioned to a standing DEI Committee on the Board.
EQUITY INITIATIVES
As of April 2024
Approved a three-year our Strategic Plan in 2023 that to explicitly highlights DEI priorities and strategies.
Diversified our Board leadership over the last four years, bringing our BIPOC representation on the Board to 42%.
Transitioned the work of the 13-member DEI Strategy Team in summer 2022 to the standing DEI Committee, added to our Board in fall 2021. Welcomed three new community members in February 2024: Lisa Hams, Malcolm Squire, and Lita Flowers.
Hired three new staff members of color since fall 2021, diversifying the experience and perspectives of our staff.
Recommitted to centering under-represented works by women and people of color, an initiative that began in 2018, and creating more meaningful opportunities for directors and actors of color.
Revised our Volunteer Handbook in April 2024 to set clearer expectations around working with minors and participating in productions.
Launched “Project Access” in fall 2021 to reduce barriers to volunteering at Live Arts.
Partnered with The Breath Project, a national network of BIPOC artists and theaters committed to building a more equitable theater community and actively dismantling structural racism in the American Theater. Our first Breath Project collaboration, SILAS, THE UNINVITED by Cincinnati playwright Derek J. Snow, debuted at the inaugural WATERWORKS Festival in May 2023.
Revamped our Employee Handbook in fall 2021 to reflect more equitable hiring and retention practices.
Introduced a Volunteer Bill of Rights to set expectations and protect volunteers from harm. It’s part of a Volunteer Handbook distributed in 2021.
Reviewed our governance and operating policies through an equity lens as part of a year-long Nonprofit Clinic run by UVA School of Law that wrapped up in May 2021.
Meet bi-weekly as a staff, beginning in June 2021, to participate in equity training and discuss DEI articles, books, and podcasts, or take field trips as a staff.
Launched an internal Equity Audit in fall 2021 in partnership with an outside DEI consultant.
Offer Pay-What-You-Can tickets to our productions. This program, launched in 1997 by Live Arts, is sustained by community partners committed to keeping live theater affordable and accessible.
Institutionalized land acknowledgements to the Monacan Nation and began learning about the people behind those acknowledgements through books, conversations, and staff/Board field trips to the Monacan Ancestral Museum in spring 2022.
Received one of only five Dominion Energy Foundation arts education grants in 2022 for our inclusive, skill-building approach to summer camps.
Live Arts Virtual DEI Workshops
These recordings do not include the discussion sections of the workshop.
