ARTA is committed to advancing equity, diversity, inclusivity, accessibility and accountability within the Western New York theater community beginning with ourselves. We do not want to sit at the table built to exploit and appropriate the global majority; rather, we are building a new table where EDIA and anti-racism practices are the foundation of our work in committees and on Member Council. In doing so, we resolve to drive intentional healing in our beloved community, challenging and breaking down the structures of white supremacy and systemic oppression. Black Lives Matter.

accountable action steps

• As a Council and Officer board representing our diverse community, we encourage members of the Global Majority to run in election cycles.

• We adhere to anti-racist Council and Committee Community Agreements in all meetings to promote safety, equity, and empowerment.

• We commit to on-going anti-racist training for Council Members, building on the anti-racist training completed with facilitator Jaqueline Lawton in January 2021.

• We commit to offering anti-racist training and applicable resources to all theater practitioners within ARTA.

• We will center and amplify marginalized voices in our industry through our publications of Spotlight Magazine.

• We commit to inclusive and equitable representation as well as anti-racist content on our website and social media platforms, and, in our publications.

• We strive to center and build relationships with underrepresented theaters and marginalized communities through Membership Committee outreach initiatives.

• We commit to creating affinity spaces where members of the Global Majority can work with peers to address industry racism, including microaggressions and unfair casting practices, to reduce harm by interrupting experiences of internalized racism, creating space for intentional healing, and working for individual and collective liberation.

• We commit to creating white learning spaces to work explicitly and intentionally on understanding voluntary participation in a white supremacist culture through white privilege, and to increase white members’ critical analysis around these concepts with the goal of taking actionable steps to dismantle white supremacy.

• We commit to lifting up the voices of BIPOC playwrights through our TryPOC series and an ARTA approved list of recommended plays via the New Play Exchange.

• We commit to holding members of our community’s past and present actions accountable and calling them in with love.

• We created our Best Practices document Stage Directions with EDIAA Standards as the throughline to address harmful practices and provide pathways for a more equitable and inclusive way forward as a community.