Happy Holidays folks,
One of the leading Australian Arts and Culture Independent Online Resources, Arts Hub, published an article by writer and director Tasnim Hossain.
‘Why are you here?’ How to make theatres more welcomingFrom finding the box office to seeing other faces that look like yours, accessibility is about more than bathrooms and lifts, argues Tasnim Hossain.
She talks about representation, visibility and acceptance in the arts space and how important it is. I wanted to share it as I loved how she communicates her experiences with specific beauty. It really resonated with me a lot. I'm pretty sure it's not geo blocked or paywalled and hope you get something from it.
https://www.artshub.com.au/news/opinions-analysis/why-are-you-here-how-to-make-theatres-more-welcoming-2521039]
Happy holidays and keep safe however and wherever you are.
Heath
I appreciate the specific call out the work to make a space welcoming before we make it impressive. What would it look like to run a capital campaign around rebuilding one's space as genuinely inclusive or welcoming and not just around another grand staircase, polished marble floor, and fancy box office windows?
I think it comes down to "What does inclusion mean" in order to scope the Campaign. I think that it's an amazing idea and I'd want to really get deep AND broad on who is consulting on the brief. The idea of inclusion incorporates architecture, values, artistic and programming, customer interfacing etc. It's an amazing thought (and really should be a part of every orgs strat plan IMHO).
I have worked with grant writers and other larger institutional partners on accessibility campaigns but they were more about paying for a button to get doors open. We ought to fold in individual donors and, in a theatre for example, offer a way to designate funds to New Plays, Accessibility, etc.
It sounds like a TLCC2022 panel in the making