Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
BEE@GAC
In 2021, Greenbelt Arts Center codified the Greenbelt Community Pledge as part of the organization’s bylaws.
The Greenbelt Pledge: The strength of Greenbelt is diverse people living together in a spirit of cooperation. We celebrate all people. By sharing together all are enriched. We strive to be a respectful, welcoming community that is open, accessible, safe and fair.
Codifying this pledge was only a first step in our commitment to the people of Greenbelt. As part of our current strategic planning process, our first step is to codify what this looks like in our work and interactions with each other and the community.
Belonging, Equity, and Expansion at Greenbelt Arts Center is an initiative aimed at rebuilding our community theatre in the “post-covid” era with an emphasis on building community through theatre. Over the next several months, BEE@GAC will be seeking input from organizational and community stakeholders in order to evaluate how well GAC is serving the community and what things GAC can do to best serve all members of the community as a community performing arts organization. We will utilize information collected from the community to set organizational goals for the next 3, 5 and 10 years in the areas of programming, facilities, and education.
The primary purpose of the BEE@GAC initiative is to emphatically state our commitment to the belief that all people belong in all spaces, and to begin the work that must be done to make our arts community a safer, accountable space– a space where those who have historically been excluded from places of art-making can make an artistic home. We will stumble. We will fail. But we will keep moving forward in the hope that we can be a place where people have what they need to be creative and express themselves as members of our creative community.
Black Lives Matter Statement
Originally posted Jun 5, 2020
The Greenbelt Arts Center Board of Directors is saddened by the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and the long list of many other Black and People of Color who have died as a result of systemic racial injustices in our country. We stand with all those who speak out against injustice and abuse of power, and who seek to reform the systems that have made racism so rampant in our world.
We want to do better. We must do better. We will do better. We are striving to educate ourselves as individuals and as an organization, and we are here to listen and learn from the voices that have been too long silenced and vow to help amplify them to the world.
We acknowledge and support all of the People of Color who have (and have not yet) graced our stage and our theatre. We have historically chosen to stage productions that reflect the rainbow of diverse experiences in our community, and we know that we can still do better. We will do better.
#INSOLIDARITY #BLACKLIVESMATTER
Audition Policy
All Resident Productions at the Greenbelt Arts Center are required to abide by the Auditions and Casting Policy. This states in part:
The Greenbelt Arts Center strives to be an open and welcoming place for all. As such, we encourage performers of all races and ethnicities, gender identities, sexualities, abilities, and ages to attend every audition. We encourage our directors to use color-conscious casting and to otherwise limit their casting choices only when specifically stated in the script.
In further support of our goal of inclusive casting, GAC will strive to implement known and creative solutions in order to aid actors who require accommodations that might otherwise be barriers to participation. While we cannot guarantee all possible accommodations, we encourage actors who anticipate requiring further assistance to contact the director of the production or the VP Programs with questions about how GAC can best meet your needs.
The full Audition and Casting Policy can be read here.
The Greenbelt Community Pledge
On October 17, 2021, the Membership of the Greenbelt Arts Center codified the Greenbelt Community Pledge as a core value in the GAC Bylaws. The pledge reads as follows:
The strength of Greenbelt is diverse people living together in a spirit of cooperation. We celebrate all people. By sharing together all are enriched.
We strive to be a respectful, welcoming community that is open, accessible, safe and fair.
The full bylaws of the Greenbelt Arts Center can be read here.