Commitments to our Community

To our community of artists and audiences,

There’s a lot of listening, participating, and self-examination needed right now. There are also things that I think every American needs to say out loud.

We stand firmly and humbly with the peaceful protesters and their call for foundational changes to how we as a community and a country live out our values and work toward a more just society.

We are fueled by outrage, and intent on capitalizing on this catalytic moment to embrace action that continues beyond this moment.

These issues aren’t new to us: harassment, casual violence, and brutal murders of Black and Indigenous People of Color by police and fellow citizens are only the most visible episodes in a system of oppression that underpins American society much more broadly. That recognition doesn’t mean that we understand the problem fully, but it certainly requires that we mobilize to meet this lifelong challenge.

Over the last several years, we’ve adopted some policies that we find helpful:

• social engagements with underserved communities as part of each project;

• proactive diversity in our casting/hiring practices;

• a breadth of Artist Services programming that promotes many other voices in our community.

We recommend that any organization seeking to create positive change consider adopting these policies. And also, these practices aren’t nearly enough. We’ve identified additional commitments we can make right now:

• prioritizing diversity throughout our organization, particularly in positions of artistic, curatorial, and administrative leadership;

• focusing our Artist Services on underserved and historically oppressed voices;

• reflecting visibility and sharing opportunity throughout our creative community;

• anti-oppression training to support our efforts to address oppressive practices within our org, and restructure our programming to actively dismantle oppression beyond our “walls”.

• engaging in dialog with programming partners, funders, and colleague organizations about how we increase diversity, equity, inclusivity, and accessibility across our community.

We are working to identify additional commitments. We welcome your ideas and responses.

Yours,
Control Group Productions
Directorial Team