The Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities was founded on the basic belief in community.  A place where people could come together and experience the transcendent power of the arts and humanities.  To learn, share, think, broaden, and be inspired.  

Since this founding in 1976, our center has blossomed into a regional force - a beacon of high-quality programs in a variety of artistic disciplines.  Throughout that time, we have been presented with challenges, both economic and social.  We have navigated these waters and remained steadfast in our mission of celebrating and elevating the human condition with engaging arts, humanities, education and entertainment.  

The tide for racial justice that has swept our society alongside a pandemic that has disproportionately affected BIPOC communities has invigorated our organizational energy to create an inclusive environment, representative programming, a diverse community, accessible spaces, and an equitable lens through which to view our work.  

In the past, we have made progress on our journey towards inclusion - community members and organizational leaders have committed time and resources to this effort and the groundwork has been laid.  This past work is important for providing a launching point, but we have yet to see the type of meaningful change that will allow every visitor, every staff member, and every volunteer to feel welcomed and accepted as they are. 

We have heard the ringing voices of the Black Lives Matter movement and the We See You, White American Theatre collective and now, we are elevating this work in order to move us closer to becoming a more inclusive place. The journey will be long and certainly not instantaneous, there will be bumps along the way and we are prepared to undertake this imperative work. 

The actionable steps to be taken by the Arvada Center fall into a variety of areas - areas that will be examined through a formal process that includes the Employee IDEA Task Force and the IDEA Committee of the Board of Directors.  These areas include: 

Programming

We will create a slate of programs across all divisions that affirms and respects artists, educators, designers, and actors from under-represented and under-resourced backgrounds.  This includes equitable theatre casting practices, hiring of instructors and teaching artists, class proposals, theatre season selections, jurying and curation of gallery exhibitions, and the process in which these programs are created (rehearsals, class planning, exhibition installation, etc).  

Human Resources

The lifeblood of our organization is the people who call our organization home.  The practices by which we recruit, hire, train, and retain employees, volunteers, and board members must respect and affirm people of all backgrounds, in particular those from underrepresented groups.  

Cultural Competency

We will redefine what it means when we say the word “community.”  We will provide education to staff, contractors, artists, board members, and volunteers on creating a welcoming space, eliminating barriers, and recognizing and addressing microaggressions, to name a few.  The increase in cultural competency will also include education in anti-racism, rapid response conflict resolution, bystander intervention, and clearly-defined expectations of audiences and staff.  

Accessible and Inclusive Spaces

In order to create a welcoming environment throughout our organization, we will be intentional about the way we invite people through our spaces (in-person or online), the way to remove barriers to participation, and the nature in which we engage our community in those spaces.  

The above framework is an important component of creating an inclusive environment, but it is not the end.  The journey towards inclusion will also include opportunities to assess our progress and take stock of what is yet to come.  

• We will begin by taking an honest look at our organization.  By analyzing the demographics of our current board of directors, staff, and volunteers, we will set benchmarks for adding people from underrepresented groups to the organization.  
• In the programming and human resources areas, this task force can make progress by periodically reviewing the artists, actors, and instructors that are employed by the organization and collaborating with program heads on hiring practices and expanding candidate pools.  
• In the cultural competency area, we will use a rapid response system to evaluate how audiences move through our virtual and physical spaces and the interactions that take place.  This task force will work with supervisors and managers across the organization to ensure that anti-racist behavior is adopted at all levels.  
• As new policies are created and adopted by this task force, each policy will include a date to check efficacy and compare results.  

This task force will also be held accountable by adopting a transparent method of working.  A list of action steps will be made publicly available and feedback will be welcomed by volunteers, patrons, staff, and board members through an anonymous comment submission system.  

The Employee IDEA Task Force at the Arvada Center was formed in the fall of 2020 to catalyze and take collective action in the areas of inclusion, diversity, equity and access.  Made up of employees from across all divisions of the organization, this task force has set forth goals and objectives in broad focus areas to expand the cultural landscape for everyone.

If you have comments, concerns, or ideas about how the Arvada Center can learn and become more inclusive, we welcome your feedback at idea@arvadacenter.org

IDEA Task Force Members

Collin Sanders, Videographer

Elizabeth Jamison, Production Manager

Emily Grace King, Galleries Exhibition Manager and Associate Curator

Jarrod Markman, Annual Giving Manager

Kayley Hill, Development Assistant

Keisha Makonese, Director of Arvada Center Event Space

Leslie Simon, Content and Grant Writer

Libby Zambrano, HR Manager

Marcus Turner, Director of Communications and Audience Services

Michelle Peterson, Volunteer Services and Accessibility Manager

Philip Sneed, President and CEO

Sarah Kolb, Digital Communications Manager

Teresa Cirrincione, Assistant Education Director

Teresa YoKell, Vice President of Advancement

The Arvada Center acknowledges that our facilities stand atop ancestral lands that include the Tsétsėhéstaestse (Cheyenne), the Hinono’eiteen (Arapaho), Nuche (Ute), and Oceti Sakowin (Lakota) nations. We offer respect to people of these nations—past, present and future.  As we strengthen our resolve to honor their legacies we ask that you do so as well by giving pause to acknowledge the history of deceit, wrongdoing and Western settlement on their lands as well as the beauty of their languages, knowledge and strengths that informs our human experience today.

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Read our statement on Black Lives Matter and the murder of George Floyd below:

This is a moment.

In this moment, our hearts break for George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and countless others.  

In this moment, we reflect and ask: can we call ourselves inclusive if we remain silent about the heinous injustices taking place in front of our very eyes?  

The answer resounds clearly.  We take this moment to declare our truth as an organization and to raise our voices against racism and white supremacy.

This is a moment of truth.  We see you.  We stand with you.  

The Arvada Center's mission is to celebrate and elevate the human condition and to expand the cultural landscape for everyone who visits us. We believe art has the power to remind us of our common humanity, to create empathy for those different from us and find connection in the things we share. With that in mind, we hold ourselves accountable to do better, and ask our community to do the same. 

We acknowledge our own responsibility and culpability within a society that is inherently inequitable, and how we ourselves have contributed to this inequity.  We know that actions are more meaningful than statements.

“Amplify” gives voice to Black creatives through music, performance, dance and spoken word. Produced and curated by Betty Hart, this series invites Black creatives in our community to share work and their words capturing how they feel in this moment - their hopes, fears, anger and joy.

Watch the most recent episode of "Amplify" here:

READ MORE ABOUT AMPLIFY

We're proud to collaborate with numerous groups and organizations in our community, including: 

• Diversity in the Arts Internship program
• Community Table of Arvada
• African Leadership Group
• Chabad of Northwest Metro Denver
• Kwanzaa Committee of Colorado
• IDEA Stages
• Rocky Mountain Indian Chamber of Commerce
• Denver American Indian Festival
• Native American Bank
• Jeffrey Bigger & ASL interpreting

In an effort to create safer and more equitable theatre practices, the Arvada Center has eliminated "10 out of 12" rehearsals in both musical theatre and plays.  The phrase "10 out of 12" refers to a past mandate from Actor's Equity Association that for technical rehearsals, actors that are called for a 12 hour workday may only work 10 hours of that day.  

We are proud to join the ranks of other theatre organizations across the country in eliminating this practice.

To learn more about this effort, please visit https://nomore10outof12s.com/.