Our
Network

516 ARTS is a non-collecting contemporary art museum in the center of Downtown Albuquerque that celebrates thought-provoking art in the here and now. Our mission is to connect contemporary artists and diverse audiences. 516 ARTS presents relevant exhibitions and public programs, which feature a mix of local, national, and international artists and inspire curiosity, risk-taking and creative experimentation.

Founded in 2006, 516 ARTS engages with timely themes such as the environment, immigration, and the north/south axis of cultural exchange with a focus on Latin America. Our public programs include collaborations with museums and organizations around the region and beyond, public art projects, guest speakers, public forums, the 516 WORDS literary series, workshops, performances and special events. Education programs include exhibition tours for schools and community groups with curriculum support materials for teachers, youth activities, and hands-on workshops with guest artists.

7 Stages is a professional, non-profit theatre company devoted to engaging artists and audiences by focusing on the social, political, and spiritual values of contemporary culture. 7 Stages gives primary emphasis to social justice work and the support and development of new plays, new playwrights, and new methods of collaboration. With over 40 years of producing, presenting, and educating, we continue to offer a home to artists and activists as a global center for the creation of vital conversations through collaborative performance. By creating relationships with and presenting high quality international and national artists, 7S exposes Atlanta to new art and ideas, while supporting the growth of our local community and peer companies that embody our mission.

All My Relations Arts honors and strengthens relationships between contemporary American Indian artists and the living influence of preceding generations, between artists and audiences of all ethnic backgrounds, and between art and the vitality of the American Indian Cultural Corridor.

The Arab American National Museum (AANM) is the first and only museum of its kind in the United States devoted to recording the Arab American experience. Since opening in 2005, AANM’s mission has been to document, preserve and present the history, culture and contributions of Arab Americans. Our exhibitions cover the Arab world and the history of Arab Americans from the first immigrants who arrived in the late 19th century to today. We offer safe spaces for open dialogue and community gatherings and provide educational opportunities for children and students of all ages to expand their knowledge and appreciation of Arab American history and culture. We work with established and emerging artists of all artistic mediums to uplift their work and share it with our regional and national audiences. All of this is intended to build community through the arts by showcasing our nation’s cultural diversity in thoughtful and impacting ways.

Art2Action creates, develops, produces and presents original theatre, interdisciplinary performances, performative acts and progressive cultural organizing. We support women artists, artists of color, queer or trans* artists, and creative allies. We are dedicated to these values, and hold them to be of equal importance: Cultural Equity & Aesthetic Innovation, Artistic Quality & Community Value, Performativity & Impact.

Whether developing new work, touring, or acting as a presenter, community process and meaningful engagement is central to all our work. As a mission-driven, artist-led organization, we increase capacity, extend and deepen our impact through multi-year partnerships with local and national institutions, organizations and networks.

Art2Action is incorporated in the State of New York, and the State of Florida. As a presenter, we work closely with our Tampa partners, from the University of South Florida (USF) to the Straz Center for the Performing Arts, to local community service organizations. Presenting venues vary in size and technical capacity, from 50-500 seats; identifying the appropriate partners for each residency is key to our process.

ArtPower’s mission is to present performing and media arts that engage, energize, and transform the diverse cultural life of the University and San Diego. Through ArtPower’s curation of artists representing a multitude of diverse ethnicities, cultures, and identities we strive to develop more empathetic students and community members that are better prepared to engage in the world around them. Through their participation in high quality artistic programs the program’s goal is to broaden thinking and awareness, deepen understanding, and encourage new dialogues across UC San Diego and the community.

Ashé Cultural Arts Center is the primary initiative of Efforts of Grace. Its mission is to promote, produce, create and support programs, activities and creative works that emphasize the positive contributions of people of African descent. We pride ourselves on our commitment to and experience with collaboration and on our ability to combine art, culture and community into a variety of activities, events, performances and exhibits. We are a multi-disciplinary cultural arts organization with a focus on performance art.

We encourage collaborations among and between artistic disciplines and artists in the Ashé artistic family, independent artists, and artists associated with other arts organizations. Ashé collaborates among its directing team to select artists and identify themes of interest that emerge from our artistic family and the community.

Connecting cultural expression and social change, Asian Arts Initiative uses art as a vehicle to explore the diverse experiences of all communities which include Asian Americans. Located in Philadelphia’s Chinatown North, Asian Arts Initiative is a multidisciplinary arts center offering exhibitions, performances, artist residencies, youth workshops, and a community gathering space. Here, all of us can view and create art that reflects our lives, and think critically, creatively about the future we want to build for our communities.

The Bates Dance Festival is an international destination for dance located in Lewiston, Maine. BDF provides rigorous training for dancers, offers residencies for practicing dance artists, and presents performances by a renown roster of local, national, and international dancemakers. Serving Maine, as well as a diverse community of dance audiences and arts lovers, BDF offers unprecedented access to and fosters deep appreciation for contemporary dance. BDF supports approximately 100 artists each summer and 300 students, ages 6-74. Curatorial priorities include contemporary practice, transparent process, diverse dancing bodies, collaboration, and community-designed and engaged work.

Bunnell Street Arts Center is situated on Nichiłt’ana, lands of Ninilchik Village Tribe, stewarded for thousands of years, since time immemorial by Indigenous people of this region. We are committed to resisting colonialism by supporting Indigenous-led programs and artistic practices. Bunnell sparks artistic inquiry, innovation, and equity to strengthen the physical, social and economic fabric of Alaska and beyond. Through exhibits, talks, Bunnell workshops, residencies, artist-in-schools, performances and creative placemaking actions Bunnell increases opportunities, benefits, and resources for a widespread geographic area of diverse rural communities, from Indigenous and Russian Old Believer villages to BIPOC, LGBTQ+, youth at risk, and low-income Alaskans. Bunnell amplifies the voices of disparate, isolated, and historically marginalized communities in educational youth outreach activities, training for community leaders, artists’ projects, and leadership on our Board of Directors. Bunnell seeks diverse participation in programs that challenge systemic White supremacy and elevate Indigenous life ways, build artists’ power and interweave a constellation of support for artists across the circumpolar north and beyond.

The Carver Community Cultural Center is a multicultural, multidisciplinary performing and visual arts center who celebrates the diverse cultures of our global community, with an emphasis on its African American heritage by presenting challenging artistic presentations, arts education programs and community outreach activities. The Carver Development Board raises funds to support the arts education and community engagement programs of the Carver Community Cultural Center. The Carver is located on the near East Side of San Antonio, historically home to the majority of San Antonio’s Black community and currently still one of the most under-resourced communities in the City, predominately populated by people of color.

Central District forum for Arts & Ideas is the only organization in the Seattle area solely dedicated to presenting emerging Black arts, artists, and ideas. Our mission is to present and produce Black cultural programs that encourage thought and debate, with a vision of inspiring new thoughts and challenging assumptions about Black culture. We believe in the value of cultural and geographic community, creativity, identity and passion. By focusing on community, we commit to collective efforts that celebrate the diversity of the Black experience. By focusing on creativity, we honor the role of artistic expression and disparate ideas in inspiring conversations leading to social and cultural change. By focusing on identity, we create spaces, experiences and conversations that allow people and communities to see themselves in the arts and ideas we present. By focusing on passion, we acknowledge the intensity and generosity of the work of artists, the interest of audiences, the intellect of thought leaders and the investments of supporters. These values serve as our strategic frame and guide day-to-day operations and curatorial decisions.

The Coleman Center for the Arts is a 36-year old arts organization located in rural west Alabama. Our work is done through five main programmatic arms: arts education for area youth and adults; a community-based artists’ residency that produces socially engaged public art projects and events; exhibitions that feature the work of regional artists; a free, public community garden that promotes small-scale food production; and Pop Start, a storefront space for artists-community experimentation.

Rooted in the United States capital, Washington D.C., Dance Place supports movement artists by creating opportunities for creative development, performance, and education. By investing deeply in artists and centering those who have been systemically excluded from such opportunities, we strengthen the dance field.

Dance Place accomplishes its mission by: Supporting the creation and development of new dance work by artists and companies from the Washington, DC area and around the United States. Presenting dance performances by artists and companies from the Washington, DC area, from around the United States, and from around the world of a variety of dance genres in our theater, online, and in locations throughout the D.C. metro area; Providing opportunities for youth and adult dancers to engage in a wide range of dance classes in our dance school; Serving our city and the arts community therein, through inclusive ticketing options, scholarships to our educational programs, broad access to programs both on our campus and throughout the city, and civic participation in advocacy, local government, and neighborhood growth.

The mission of Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator, Inc. is to promote, nurture, and cultivate the vision and diverse talents of emerging artists from the Caribbean and Latin Diaspora through our exhibitions program, artists-in-residence program, international exchange programs, and education and outreach activities that celebrate Miami-Dade County’s rich cultural and social fabric.

DVCAI is attuned to a regional understanding of Caribbeanness, quite different from different parts of the country. Miami Caribbean space is a heavy presence of Cuban, Puerto Rican, Dominican, the English speaking Caribbean , Latinx communities from Latin America and Central America, the French Caribbean and Dutch Caribbean. These communities engage the Black Communities and white, suburban communities.

DVCAI curatorial vision is one that is invested in deconstructing complex contemporary cultural issues and attempts to provide a dialogue within which these issues can be discussed. We face the global south and focus on Caribbean artists in the Caribbean and in Diaspora Miami defined and experienced as a Creole City.

The mission of DiverseWorks is to commission, produce, and present new and daring art in all its forms through innovative collaborations that honor each artist’s vision without constraint. Founded by artists in 1982, DiverseWorks is nationally known for its groundbreaking artistic programming, meaningful engagement with communities, and advancement of progressive art and ideas in Houston and the nation.

Throughout its 40 year history, DW has been committed to equity and diversity in the arts and supported brave projects that cultivate social change. Currently, more than 70% of artists, 50% of staff, and 47% of the Board of Directors are BIPOC and/or identify as LGBTQ+.

DiverseWorks fulfills its mission through a year-round schedule of exhibitions, performances, and community programs presented to the public free of charge. DiverseWorks’ primary audiences are artists and culturally curious audiences who seek experiences outside of the larger, more traditional arts venues. Geographically, the Greater Houston Area is the focus, though the artists and audiences we engage are local, national, and international. Taking an adaptive and artist-centered approach to the use of space, DiverseWorks produces performances and projects in a variety of sites across the city of Houston.

Fusebox is a non-profit arts organization in Austin, TX. At the center of our work is an ongoing exploration of live performance. Our programs bring unique artistic projects to thousands of people in Central Texas; provide support and resources to artists; and address civic issues at the center of contemporary life and culture. Fusebox serves the artist community in Austin, in strong support of BIPOC arts.

FUSEBOX CORE VALUES
We believe in the boundless possibilities of live performance.
We believe in the potential of imagination to shape the world.
We believe in shaking things up.
We believe in access.
We believe in, and are committed to, cultural equity, anti-racism, and diversity.
We believe in supporting arts workers.
We believe in the act of gathering, and the power of presence.
We believe in leading with joy, care, and generosity.
We believe in long-term collaborations.
We believe in a plurality of perspectives.
We believe in the exchange of ideas across artistic disciplines, sectors, neighborhoods, and countries.
We believe exchanges should be relational and reciprocal rather than transactional.
We believe our festival should be free, but that artists’ work should be valued.
We believe that art is central to a healthy society

GALA Hispanic Theatre’s mission is to develop, produce, and present works that explore the breadth of Latinx performing arts, making this work accessible to the broadest possible audience and using theater as a vehicle for social change. In doing so, GALA provides opportunities for Latinx artists, educates and trains youth, and engages the entire community in an exchange of ideas and perspectives.

The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, founded in 1980, is located in the heart of San Antonio’s Westside. It is one of the largest community-based, multi-disciplinary organizations in the U.S. The GCAC provides programming across six disciplines (dance, theatre, visual arts, music, film and literature), offers year- round educational programming through its Guadalupe Academy and free community events, and also produces the annual Tejano Conjunto festival and Cinefestival.

Hammonds House museum and Resource Center of African American Art is a fine arts museum established in 1988 and housed in an early 19th Century Victorian home. The mission is to preserve, exhibit and increase public awareness about art of the African Diaspora. Hammonds House museum attendees gain greater understanding and expanded knowledge about the contributions that artists of African descent make to world culture.

Hammonds House museum is known for presenting artists of merit and artistic excellence. The museum’s curator and curatorial committee use a stringent review process to select exhibiting artists two to three years in advance. The museum remains sensitive to local and/or emerging artists by providing alternate opportunities for exposure, self-development assistance and avenues to realize additional income streams. Hammonds House museum offers a year- round calendar of exhibitions, panels, lectures and symposia, workshops and demonstrations, youth programming, concerts and other unique events.

We lift up Durham’s Black community and the broader community around us through programs that preserve the heritage of historic Hayti and promote the African American experience through arts programs, operating as a cultural hub and as a space for engagement. In addition to core programs, we provide space for facility rentals. Our programming includes visual artist exhibitions, a poetry slam/spoken word team, summer/year round youth programming, African dance classes, a music series that celebrates noted black jazz, blues, gospel and other artists performed by local talent, an annual film festival that promotes southern black film, an annual Kwanzaa celebration, and a Juneteenth event among others. “We regularly feature and promote local visual artists by showcasing their works in our gallery space, inviting the public to meet artists and see the work during receptions and talks back, and we promote the sale of our artists’ works. We support performing artists through social media and our website, with focus on local talented vocalists, musicians and deejays. Presenting the arts in our sacred space makes our programming even more memorable and helps preserve the community’s heritage”.

Highways is Southern California’s boldest center for new performance. In our 33rd year, Highways continues to be an important alternative cultural center in Los Angeles that encourages radical artists from diverse communities to develop and present innovative new works. Described by the Los Angeles Times as “a hub of experimental theater, dance, solo drama and other multimedia performance,” Highways promotes the development of contemporary socially involved artists and art forms.

Our mission is to develop and present innovative performance and visual artists, promote interaction among people of diverse cultural backgrounds and engage artists and the communities they serve in cross-cultural dialogues about social, cultural and artistic issues.

ISDA is a tri-national creative place-making organization dedicated to preserving and enriching the environment, culture, and economy of the Sonoran Desert. Located in Ajo, Arizona (formerly the three separate, segregated communities of Indian Village, Mexican Town, and the Ajo Anglo Townsite), ISDA uses arts and culture to bring people together across long-standing racial and ethnic divisions, and to build community across the U.S., Mexico, and Tohono O’odham Nation borders.

For the last decade, ISDA has been renovating historic buildings in Ajo’s town center where ISDA now manages 30 affordable live/work artist apartments, an indoor/outdoor performance venue, and the new Sonoran Desert Inn and Conference Center created for meetings, arts gatherings, and artists-in- residence. ISDA presents local, regional and national performing artists. ISDA takes a special interest in presenting community and folk arts, and art that evokes or addresses issues of social justice and racial equity.

The John Michael Kohler Arts Center’s mission is to generate a creative exchange between artists and the public. The Arts Center serves as a laboratory for the creation of new works, nurturer of interdisciplinary initiatives, originator of exhibitions, presenter of performing arts, educator, community builder and advocate for arts issues, functioning as a catalyst for ideas that will impact the lives of artists and the public. The Arts Center works with community partners to develop goals and priorities as we reach the local Sheboygan, WI community, Midwest region, and nationally. We envision a world in which communities collaborate and explore the arts to nourish and enrich the lives of all. We believe that art in all its forms is vital to the health of our communities, our nation, and our world; we believe that art enriches the human spirit. We activate creative exchanges through equitable, intentional, and creative opportunities inclusive of artist collaborations, participatory experiences, community partnerships, and accessible resources that foster lifelong learning through the arts.

Junebug Productions emerged from the Free Southern Theater in 1980 with a mission to create and support artistic works that question and confront inequitable conditions that have historically impacted the Black community.

Through interrogation, we challenge ourselves and those aligned with the organization to make greater and deeper contributions towards a just society.

Mission: Kelly Strayhorn Theater (KST) is a home for creative experimentation, community dialogue, and collective action rooted in the liberation of Black and queer people.

Focusing on the performing and media arts of our time, KST takes a multidisciplinary and inclusive approach to presenting contemporary performing arts. KST programs examine the questions that define and inspire us as individuals and communities. Our mission supports a vision in three parts: A leading presenter of innovative works in dance, theater, music, and live art; a community resource for youth education, emerging artist support and community partnership; and a neighborhood anchor institution accelerating the transformation of East Liberty as a destination for cultural entertainment and business opportunity.

KST is a leading interdisciplinary producer and presenter of contemporary art and performance committed to the liberation of Black Life and the empowerment of historically marginalized communities. Through performances, artist residencies, and community partnerships KST is where artists and audiences test new ideas and shape public conversation. KST programs examine the questions that define and inspire us as individuals and communities.

The King Arts Complex is located in the oldest area of African-American life in Columbus, Ohio. The Complex preserves, presents and fosters the contributions of African-Americans through creative expression and education. The Complex has built artistically strong offerings that represent the spectrum of the performing and cultural arts, establishing it as a primary African-American institution in Ohio. The Complex houses three performance spaces, two dance studios, an art gallery and three permanent interactive learning areas. The Complex sponsors community events in the adjacent public park and hosts a variety of education programs. Artist selection and review is a year-round process. The traditional performing arts season runs September through June, with artist selections finalized by the prior April.

Links Hall is proud to be a home for independent artists across all performance disciplines, at all stages of their careers — simultaneously a presenter, incubator, and service organization. Founded in 1978 by three experimental choreographers (Bob Eisen, Carol Bobrow and Charlie Vernon), Links encourages artistic innovation and public engagement by maintaining a facility and providing flexible programming for the research, development, and presentation of new work in the performing arts. We provide residency programs, performance series, co-presentations with local organizations and ensembles, festivals, and subsidized performance and rehearsal rentals for self-producing artists. One artist notes, “Links Hall matters because it’s quite easy as an artist to feel like you’re always asking for support and resources from the world around you. Links feels like a place that just gives those things willingly and not only invests in the artist but then reinvests in them over and over again.” Links serves artists from across Chicago, the Midwest, and nationally; and has supported national tours and exchanges with arts partners in Japan and Haiti. Over 50% of Links artists identify as Black, Indigenous, or artists of color. Festivals, ongoing performance series, and residencies are collectively curated by artists or artist-led jury panels.

Live Arts Miami (LAM) is an action-driven, people-centered platform for powerful performances, impactful community programs and learning experiences that spark dialogue, raise awareness around pressing issues, and open minds and hearts. Its mission is to empower artists, audiences, and students to cultivate change through transformative programs and performances that broaden the local horizon of possibilities to create Miami’s brightest future through the live arts.

Created in 1990 by Arts impresario Olga Garay, Live Arts Miami is proud to be a part of Miami Dade College’s Department of Cultural Affairs. Its programs strive to empower historically underserved cultural producers and audiences, including the MDC student body, the largest, most diverse and one of the most economically underprivileged in the nation.

LAM envisions a democratic creative culture which celebrates the rich complexity of its multicultural city. It embraces practices that restore balance and connection to its communities and the planet we inhabit. Live Arts that foster transformation and advance local and global struggles for justice, equity, and freedom. A culture not just unfettered and free, but one that frees and empowers people to actively participate in the (re)creation of our collective future.

LACE both champions and challenges the art of our time by fostering artists who innovate, explore, and risk. We move within and beyond our four walls to provide opportunities for diverse publics to engage deeply with contemporary art. In doing so, we further dialogue and participation between and among artists and those audiences.

The MACC is the most comprehensive multi-disciplinary arts facility in Hawai’i, and a gathering place where people can celebrate creativity through personal and shared experiences of the arts. It is a world-class facility where popular and innovative performing artists can be enjoyed, connecting our community to the world. Looking forward to our next 25 years, we continue to strive for the enrichment of life on Maui through personal and shared experiences of the arts: to engage, to inspire, to educate, and to broaden all of our horizons.

Founded in 1989, Miami Light Project is a not-for-profit cultural organization, which commissions and presents artists from all over the world and throughout Miami. We support the vanguard in contemporary performance – dance, music, theater and multimedia artists who are internationally recognized for risk-taking innovation, technical virtuosity and thought-provoking content. Our programmatic vision has led the way in establishing Miami as an internationally recognized center for art and culture, with a vibrant locally based artistic community. Miami Light Project is an art and culture forum to explore the issues that define contemporary society.

MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana is an inclusive contemporary arts space grounded in the Chicano/Latino experience that incubates new visual, literary and performance art in order to engage people in civic dialogue and community transformation.

Founded in 1989 as the result of a broad community mobilization in the City of San Jose and nationwide on behalf of multicultural arts, MACLA promotes a vision of arts programming as a vehicle social equity.

Each year we offer up to six arts exhibitions (including one that features new work commissioned by MACLA) showcasing artists whose work is rooted in a Latino aesthetic and history. Our free exhibitions include artist talks that expand upon the themes and issues addressed.

Our performance and literary arts tract offers perspectives on contemporary Latino culture. Our 100-seat Castellano Playhouse provides space for diverse artists and performing arts groups. As part of the NPN, we offer two artist residencies annually and present national touring professionals.

MACLA’s year-round arts education curriculum serves youth ages 13-18. The Best Buy Teen Tech Center features a gallery, classroom, and music production studio for our youth programs. Our Family Art Day program encourages families with young children to participate in our many arts programs.

A Latino-based multidisciplinary arts and multicultural arts organization, MECA provides arts education, support services, and multicultural artistic programming to underserved, underrepresented families that help build community, discipline, self-esteem, and cultural pride.

MECA predominantly serves BIPOC communities in Houston and its surrounding areas. However, its doors are open to all communities regardless of color, sex, race, or religious beliefs.

The MECA Presents Performing Arts Series is a platform that convenes community through the arts and encourages dialogue about issues ranging from social justice and equity to diversity and community transformation. From incubating works in progress to presenting local and touring artists, MECA seeks to work with innovative and socially engaged artists whose work expands the boundaries of tradition and practice. MECA is especially interested in projects that bring to light the experiences of life on the margins of societies, economies, and cultures.

The mission of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) is to be an innovative and compelling center of contemporary art where the public can directly experience the work and ideas of living artists and understand the historical, social and cultural context of the art of our time. The museum boldly interweaves exhibitions, performances, collections and educational programs to excite, challenge and illuminate our visitors and to provide insight into the creative process. The MCA aspires to engage a broad and diverse audience, create a sense of community and be a place for contemplation, stimulation and discussion about contemporary art and culture.

The MCA presents more than 20 different projects yearly involving close to 100 performances in dance, theater, music and interdisciplinary performance. MCA champions U.S., international, and Chicago-based artists and pursues innovation, collaboration and community engagement. Audience-engaged residency activities are integrated with the public performances. The performing arts programming actively promotes diversity, featuring the voices of culturally and racially diverse artists. The MCA works with arts and community cultural organizations to co- organize and co-present about one-third of the performing arts programs, thereby utilizing the MCA as a shared resource for the city.

Mutual Dance Theatre and Arts Centers was formerly known as Contemporary Dance Theater (est. 1972) and MamLuft&Co. Dance (est. 2007). The two small organizations recently merged to become the single organization in Cincinnati to self-identify as Modern Dance-dedicated.

Mutual Dance Theatre’s mission is to enrich and improve lives by bringing palpable Modern Dance to people in Cincinnati, reducing barriers to experiencing the art form. Mutual seeks to engage diverse populations by providing opportunities for both children and adults to experience hands-on participation, to get closer to the art form, and to gain more and deeper understanding of dance in theaters, schools, and community hubs. The organization prioritizes dance that speaks to non-eurocentric experiences and works with community partners to raise the reach of marginalized populations. Our collaborative and creative models emphasize discovery, as well as a value for process, pluralism of voices, and individualism. Mutual highly values racial representation and works to change longstanding biases and embedded exclusion in dance, which begins with a goal for at least 50% BIPOC representation at all levels.

The Myrna Loy is an outstanding rural arts center in Helena, Montana that presents live performances, arts education experiences, community-building events of all kinds, plus two movies daily, to our community in the Northern Rockies. We also host a monthly online program, The Myrna Soundstage, celebrating Montana artists. We serve as a gateway to multiple cultural expressions, bringing performers from many cultures into our rural landscape. We are small yet mighty. We instigate happenings. We support new works. We are rural, hard to get to, with expensive travel costs, and all our wealth is in relationships. The Myrna Loy lives in a transformed 100-year-old granite jailhouse. Our motto is “Art transforms everything.” Come see why.

New York Live Arts is a center devoted to the creation of live art that elevates the human spirit and brings people together in shared humanity. We are a place that brings people together to explore common values through live gathering and performance reminding us of our humanity and elevating the human spirit. At the core of our programming is our certainty that art has the ability to create communities and platforms for the exchange of ideas.

Founded by artists in 1978, the mission of On the Boards (OtB) is to introduce audiences to international innovators in contemporary dance, theater and music while developing and presenting new work by Northwest performing artists.

As one of the leading organizations of our size and focus in the U.S., OtB produces unique performance projects by leading artists and creates one-of-a-kind experiences for our audiences. We program approximately 12–15 productions per year from September through June. We present contemporary performance from all disciplines; typically companies are in residence for one week. Production residencies and commissions are selected on a case-by-case basis as part of our overall programming curation. OtB is committed to a range of resources and events that provide in-depth information and complimentary social experiences to frame the art on our stages and create dynamic access for our audiences. Alongside our live performances we also create and distribute films of full-length performance through our OntheBoards.tv initiative.

Building on a 53-year legacy, the Painted Bride brings together artists, audiences and communities to push the boundaries of how we create and experience art. Since our 1969 founding as part of the Alternative Space movement, we have focused on supporting Black and Brown artists, LGBTQ+, women, disabled and other intentionally oppressed and overlooked communities. We believe that our work is to support marginalized Philadelphia artists and communities to create, express, and influence how our neighborhoods and our city will evolve. We work with artists who are generous, open and collaborative, and committed to building relationships with audiences.

Pangea World Theater illuminates the human condition, celebrates cultural differences and promotes human rights by creating and presenting international, multi-disciplinary theater. Pangea constitutes a vital new force in American theater, bringing an international perspective to the Twin Cities’ community. Since its founding in 1995, Pangea has been dedicated to the production and presentation of work that brings together people from different backgrounds and ethnicities, and the contextualization of work by artists from all backgrounds for a multiracial audience. Our theater works, drawn from multiple sources and multiple traditions, have always challenged dominant European-American paradigms and definitions of theater. As we create work that is truly inclusive in its scope and artistic aesthetic, we are also developing a critical language to describe our work. We are engaged in work that involves a cross-cultural perspective, illuminating issues of social justice and human rights.

The artistic and literary directors select the artists we present. members of the ensemble and staff make recommendations. In addition, we have created a community committee that helps with audience development. The selection process is ongoing. We prefer to see live work but documentation is also considered. Our aesthetic is not fixed; it includes the voices and artistic visions of multiple voices and realities.

Rooted in the Latin American and Caribbean diaspora, La Peña Cultural Center collaborates with and unites communities by preserving and celebrating cultural traditions; producing creative new works; and nurturing global grassroots social justice movements with artists, activists and allies.

Performance Space was founded by artists in a decommissioned public school building in the East Village in 1980. For over 42 years, we have been commissioning and presenting artistic works that dissolve the borders of performance art, dance, theater, music, visual art, poetry and prose, ritual, night life, food, film, and technology, shattering artistic and social norms alike. Our new mission is:

YES To Artists

YES To Risks

YES To Community

YES To Every Body

YES To ______* (an invitation to the public to propose a 5th affirmation)

The artists of Performance Space foreground emergent movements in contemporary art and performance. New work takes risks, which is why “YES to Risks” is the second affirmation in our mission right after “YES to Artists.” This is not the first time our community has lived through a pandemic and political turmoil. In the 1980s and 90s, the organization was at the epicenter of the AIDS crisis and Culture Wars. Historically, the organization has had LGBTQ leadership and served LGBTQ communities, which reflects our founding by LGBTQ artists who created spaces for free artistic expression in our East Village neighborhood. Today, Performance Space remains a haven for queer and radical voices.

PICA is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center supporting artists through residencies, commissions, exhibitions, performances, publications, and the annual TBA (Time-Based Art Festival.) PICA’s offices and core program spaces are in 10,000 sq ft flexible warehouse space in NE Portland. PICA’s programs are curated and produced by a team of three artistic directors, Roya Amirsoleymani, Erin Boberg Doughton, and Kristan Kennedy. Our curatorial practice is collaborative and artist-centered, with a focus on supporting experimental, multidisciplinary, and evolving work, with a priority on LGBTQ and global majority artists. We redistribute resources through the Precipice Fund which offers funding to artist-driven projects and groups, the SPACE program which provides access to space, equipment and production support for self-produced work and community-led initiatives, and as fiscal sponsor for BAEP (Black Art Ecology of Portland) and FNPA (First Nations Performing Arts.)

Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater is an award-winning acting and music ensemble, multidiscipline arts presenter, and owner/steward of bilingual arts facilities in The Bronx and Manhattan. Our mission is to champion a Puerto Rican/Latinx cultural legacy of universal value through creation and performance of original plays and musicals, exchange and partnership with other artists of merit, and engagement of diverse audiences. Our year-round programs offer attractive and affordable opportunities for arts access and participation to NYC residents and visitors alike.

Pregones/PRTT champions an expansive view of the performing arts by opening its Bronx and Manhattan stages to extraordinary theater, music, dance, film/media and visual artists from the U.S. and around the world. Our two-stage Presenting Program is equal parts kaleidoscope and Spanish accent: We program for a general audience and from a Latinx perspective, always making room for meaningful contrasts and discovery. We feature seasoned and emerging artists in both standalone and multiple performances. Engagements often extend into residencies harboring other activities such as workshops, public dialogues, and master classes.

Founded by artist and philanthropist Laura Merage in 2008, RedLine’s mission is to be a diverse urban laboratory where art, education, and community converge. Our vision is to foster forms of social practice in the arts that inspire inquiry and catalyze change. RedLine also connects artists with the community. RedLine encourages artistic growth in our two-year residency program that provides an environment where artists can cross the red line to lose the inhibitions that may hold an artist back, while gaining support systems to excite the senses and realize one’s dreams. Artists are required to share their experiences and their personal creativity with the community as part of their residency.

REDCAT, a center for contemporary performing, visual and media arts, introduces diverse audiences and artists to the most influential developments in the arts from throughout the world and provides Los Angeles artists with opportunities to develop new work. Opened in 2003 by the California Institute of the Arts, REDCAT is located in the frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles. REDCAT features a flexible black box performance space and a 3,000 sq. ft. exhibition space.

REDCAT’s programming values artists who blur the boundaries between artistic disciplines, cross international borders in their collaborations, experiment with artistic traditions and invent or use new technology in developing new forms of expression. Each year as many as 200 events are presented, including performances, screenings, discussions, readings and exhibitions. most performing artists are selected 12 to 18 months in advance. The gallery director and curator program the exhibitions.

Sandglass is dedicated to the arts of theater and puppetry as a means of exploring contemporary issues, inspiring dialogue, and sparking wonder. We create original ensemble performances and collaborations, present diverse theater artists, produce events that serve our communities, and teach our art.

The Skirball Cultural Center is a museum and cultural center rooted in Jewish values to welcome the stranger, seek learning, pursue justice, show kindness, honor memory, and build community. The Skirball presents exhibitions and public programs that seek to bring people of all backgrounds together to experience shared humanity. We serve multiple audiences throughout the greater Los Angeles area, including tens of thousands of LA schoolchildren who receive free busses to our campus each year. Public programs encompass music, literary, film, performance, and civic gatherings.

Since its founding in 1986, Space One Eleven has advocated for social justice through the visual arts. SOE’s mission is to provide paid opportunities for visual artists, to create a forum for public understanding of contemporary art, and to offer art education to area youth.

Attendees at SOE art exhibitions and related programs are diverse in race and gender identity. Racial makeup closely aligns with the demographics of the Greater Birmingham Metropolitan area which is 66% white, 32% Black.

Exhibitions at SOE showcase artists who investigate issues such as racial injustice, gun violence, and LGBTQ rights. These topical exhibitions are paired with artist talks and panel discussions to facilitate public conversation and a call for advocacy.

Su Teatro Cultural & Performing Arts Center’s mission is to promote, produce, develop and preserve the cultural arts, heritage and traditions of the Chicano/Latino community, to advance mutual respect for other cultures, and to establish avenues where all cultures may come together. Su Teatro, the resident theater company born out of the Chicano Civil Rights movement, is the third-oldest Chicano theatre in the U.S. While having a strong theatrical bent, Su Teatro also presents music, poetry, visual and film artists.

Artist collaborators are programmed into Su Teatro’s season that also includes the Chicano music festival and the Neruda Poetry festival. Artist collaborators fit within the Chicano aesthetic and represent an emerging vision of the Latino World experience. Residencies are structured within the curriculum of Su Teatro’s Cultural Arts Education Institute.

The Theater Offensive presents liberating art by, for, and about queer and trans people of color that transcends artistic boundaries, celebrates cultural abundance, and dismantles oppression. This is done through programs informed by Queer Aesthetics.The idea of aesthetics helps us understand the ways we experience beauty, and gives us a framework to talk about how we name and claim beauty and why we choose what we choose. Aesthetics are reflected in the realms of belonging. They communicate a shared set of ideas, values, geographies, and historical defining moments.

An internationally respected contemporary art center, the Walker is a catalyst for the creative expression of artists and the active engagement of audiences. We take a multi-disciplinary approach to the creation, presentation, interpretation, collection, and preservation of art. The Walker houses one of the largest museum-based performing arts departments in the country and annually supports dozens of commissions, developmental residencies, and presentations. The McGuire Theater, opened in 2005, serves not only as a stunning platform for presentations but also as a working laboratory and production center, offering innovators the support, time, and resources to finish technically mounting large-scale work. The Walker commissions and presents new work on local, national, and international levels and continues to present a wide range of global work. We support established and innovative masters, mid-career artists and a range of emerging voices in contemporary dance, dance theater, experimental theater, new music-theater, performance art, new puppetry, avant-jazz, electronic music, contemporary classical music, international/global music and experimental pop/rock. We mainly select artists with whom we have ongoing relationships or those we have researched and sought out, but we remain open to receiving proposals and inquiries from artists who fit our mission and who are forging new directions.

The Yard is a creation and performance platform for artists from around the globe with a focus on dance. We offer exhilarating, wide-ranging, and educational arts experiences through performances, residencies, and community activities. We present performances by national and international artists; provide paid residencies for choreographers; offer intergenerational engagement programs; and bring dance and creativity centered education programs into schools. Our programs run year-round and can be found on The Yard’s campus and in partner locations across the island of Martha’s Vineyard. We serve the island’s year-round population of ~17,000, as well as the significant influx of summer residents and tourists. With the exception of the summer months, Martha’s Vineyard is a characteristically rural place. The Yard provides a unique bridge to the performing arts mainland. Our curatorial vision is in the process of being revisited, following the retirement of a long-time artistic director. The Yard’s current roster of artists were primarily selected under this previous director’s leadership, with a focus on relationship building and presenting artists who represent various viewpoints, life experiences, genres, and stages in their careers.

BACKGROUND
Youth Speaks is an established youth arts education organization celebrating 25 years of amplifying youth voice for positive social change in 2021. During this time, YS established a brand and global online reach within the field of youth voice, spoken word, and SLAM poetry to “advance the movement” aka, create large-scale social change.

OUR MISSION
Through the intersection of arts education and youth development practices, civic engagement strategies, and high quality artistic presentation, Youth Speaks creates safer spaces that challenge young people to find, develop, publicly present, and apply their voices as creators of societal change.

APPROACH
A major focus within Youth Speaks over the last three years has been to shift our internal practices towards an anti-oppression, liberatory framework, employing transformative justice in the planning and delivery of our work.