The NEA says applicants for all grants must follow “all applicable executive orders” from the White House. The guidelines state that applicants “will not operate any programs promoting ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (DEI) that violate any applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws or use federal funds “to promote gender ideology.
To which we reply – OH HELL NO!
Recently, arts organizations all across the country have received notice that NEA grants will no longer be distributed to organizations who promote DEI. A few organizations have responded by telling the Trump Administration and his fascist lackey’s to go suck a bag of dicks. We count ourselves in that number.
Theater Makers Lab a young organization whose very foundation is focused on DEI. It is our reason to exist. We have not yet qualified for NEA grants – though we had hoped to be able to fund some of our more ambitious projects to help break down the socio-economic barriers that prevent vibrant theater communities from thriving and make theater a more sustainable activity for more people – but that is going to be tabled for the foreseeable future.
Our culture is made richer through DEI. We make our decisions based on a deep awareness of this fact and a desire to foster DEI in our theater making communities.
We have no intention of asking permission to make our organization’s decisions based on DEI.
We will be holding space for conversations about how to keep theater alive through this dark period with the hope that on the other side of it, we will be stronger together and share a bright future with our fellow human beings.
We stand with the board members of the Kennedy Center who stepped down last week because Trump made himself chairman of the board by fiat.
We stand with the Playwright’s Center in Minneapolis who stated this week: “What they call ‘DEI’ is what we call our values. We identify and uplift artists who have been historically marginalized, and we materially support their ability to create their world-changing work, full stop.”
We stand with Lynn Nottage and Paula Vogel and 400+ theater artists who signed a letter to the NEA protesting this policy shift.
It is defeatist to capitulate to this horror. It presumes that we have no choice. As soon as everyone believes that, the dark wins. We refuse to change our mission to beg for money from oligarchs who only want to use artists for propaganda and for their own entertainment. We choose to operate on the streets or in any space friendly to DEI principles.
Join us in conversation. We will be holding multiple social hours and workshops this spring to find common ground and strength in how we support each other through this and how theater can best fight fascism in our country and in the world. Stay tuned.
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