Black Lives Matter
Arte Violenta stands behind the bipoc community as they mourn the loss of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and far too many others. Our company is built on community, and we want to say to our Black community in particular, we are so very sorry and we are listening.
We are taking a hard look at ourselves and the way we create inclusive spaces and how we support and show up for all of our students. We realize that it is not enough to cultivate a safe space for our members to grow and learn, we need to be actively Anti-Racist in these spaces and that needs to be reflected in and out of our classrooms. We are taking immediate action to reexamine our policies and the needs of our students. We are creating a system of anonymous reporting where our students can safely report any instances of harassment or unsafe conditions as well as provide feedback. We are redesigning the curriculum to represent more diverse fighting and movement styles as well as incorporating plays and scenes by bipoc artists. We are also changing our tuition structure from a previous flat rate to payment plans and sliding scale options as well as starting a scholarship fund to help alleviate the financial burden on our students, effective immediately. We are actively participating in anti-racist and LGTBQ+ training programs to better ourselves personally and professionally.
Although we acknowledge that it is not your job to educate us, we are open to any suggestions from our BIPOC and LGBTQ+ community how we can better stand up and show up for you at this time and as we move forward.
Sincerely,
Jacqueline Holloway
Founder, Arte Violenta
Resources and training
Anti-Racist Theatre Training (Nicole Brewer)
The Transgender Training Institute
