Work with Us

ArtsWest’s mission is to produce theater that provokes conversation, incites the imagination and uses live theater as a powerful agent of change.  Fulfilling this mission often leads us to produce disruptive work that responds to what’s happening in our world and challenges the status quo.  For the past several years, ArtsWest mainstage seasons have been comprised of at least 50% BIPOC playwrights and stories.  In 2021 and beyond, we have instituted a series of practices to further support the artists telling these stories and the audiences who experience them.

In 2021, we began programming our seasons collaboratively with a collective of ArtsWest Associate Artists.  The group was created as a new power-sharing method of season curation.  Rather than limiting the minds and voices involved to those of ArtsWest leadership, the group adds new interdisciplinary, majority BIPOC theater artists into the conversation each year.  In collaboration with ArtsWest leadership, the Associate Artists source, discuss, debate and program as a collective the material for our mainstage season. 

Each season at ArtsWest is programmed around a “theme,” though the season seeks to go much deeper than the word implies.  Each season has at its heart a deep and pressing question that arises from the world the season finds itself in.  This question is explored through six widely different lenses over the course of a year-long season of theater and visual art exhibits, placing the theater we make in solid conversation with the world around it. 

ArtsWest seeks to create a nourishing home for artists where they can show up as their authentic selves and find the support necessary to create visionary work. The following policies and practices have been created with two goals in mind – to open our doors, inviting artists who have never worked at ArtsWest before to join us for the first time; and to continue to develop ongoing and long-term creative relationships with artists who find an artistic home at ArtsWest.  Since 2017, at least 40% of artists employed by ArtsWest each year have been BIPOC, and at least 50% of the plays produced each year have been written by BIPOC playwrights.  In 2021 and forward, at least 50% of the artists we work with will be BIPOC and plays by BIPOC playwrights will continue to constitute at least 50% of our work.  However, BIPOC artists are valued not just for one aspect of their identity, but as artists full stop.  For that reason BIPOC artists work on shows throughout the season, not just on BIPOC plays.

Beginning in 2021, each year we will hold an open submission process to get to know stage managers, crew members, designers, and other creatives who have never worked at ArtsWest before.  Interested artists are invited to submit work samples on a rolling basis, and to come in for an annual day of conversations with a committee consisting of ArtsWest’s Artistic Director and fellow community artists.  Below are more details specific to each discipline.

New non-union stage managers and assistant stage managers are invited to submit resumes, work samples, or simply letters of interest at any time, which we will receive and collect throughout the year. Each year, we schedule a day of 10–minute appointments for interested stage managers to meet with a committee consisting of ArtsWest’s Artistic Director, a fellow stage manager, and an actor from the community.

Each season we employ six Production Stage Managers. At least one will be new to ArtsWest, with two positions reserved for pre-existing partnerships with directors, and three reserved to continue fostering ongoing creative relationships with ArtsWest. 

Our crew consists of non-union run crew, wardrobe, board ops, master electricians, carpenters, and/or scenic charge artists, depending on the needs of each production.  Each year, at least 40% of these positions will be reserved for those new to ArtsWest. 

Each year, we schedule a day of 10-minute appointments for interested technical crew members to meet with a committee consisting of ArtsWest’s Artistic Director, Technical Director, and a designer or two from the community.

At this time, ArtsWest has no new works program.  Typically our seasons are programmed from published plays with prior productions that are licensable through licensing houses or the playwrights themselves.  Occasionally we will produce the first production of plays that have been fully workshopped and are not in need of any additional development process.  Playwrights interested in pitching such plays are invited to submit them year–round via this form (coming soon).  We will not be able to respond to every inquiry, but you can rest assured that your work will be seen by ArtsWest staff.

Each season ArtsWest produces at least 50% plays by BIPOC playwrights.  With very few exceptions, these plays are directed by BIPOC directors, and BIPOC casting associates are present in all casting rooms regardless of the identity of the playwright.  ArtsWest also employs BIPOC actors throughout the season, including in plays by white playwrights and so-called “canonical” material.   

In all of the above cases, ArtsWest has operated under a philosophy of “color-conscious” casting as opposed to “colorblind” casting.  This has been far from a perfect practice, but in the best cases it has meant that racialized narratives created by casting choices are thoroughly discussed by the director, casting associates, and creative team, and developed in collaboration with the actors involved.  This work is supported by cultural and/or racial equity consultants on each show.  This also means being specific in regard to races called for by the script.  

The emerging idea of “identity-conscious” casting has further galvanized our desire to ensure that the practices above show up in all cases, not just in the best cases. You can read more about identity conscious casting here. Identity conscious casting doesn’t just end in the casting room, but becomes a fundamental aspect of design and rehearsal processes, as well as performance runs. 

While there are constraints and limitations in all producing settings, ArtsWest works to give as much agency and support as possible to artists to create work that is authentic to them, especially when it comes to centering BIPOC artists in the telling of their own stories.  Solutions to producing challenges are found through creative collaboration and a people-first approach, rather than through organizational overrides, and we will always be prepared to support and defend the artistic choices of the creative team to the public. 

As the team is assembled, we ensure competent, proficient and accessible walkthroughs of inventory and spatial configurations for all new and returning designers and creative team members. In 2021, we will begin a practice of disclosing who else is on the project when offers are made, and keeping the team updated as additional members are brought on. 

Also beginning in 2021, identity conscious casting and storytelling will become a central part of the discussion in early creative and production meetings, and be returned to throughout the design process, adding into the mix any racial equity or cultural consultants involved with the project.  In all cases, the ways in which race and other forms of oppression manifest in the narrative will be named and discussed from the early stages of the process onward. 

Specific needs of each project will be anticipated and attended to early on.  An example of this practice is BIPOC hair and makeup design, especially in regard to Black hair styling, which is to be designed in collaboration with the actor, in consultation with properly trained designers, and budgeted for by the organization.  These specific needs will also have impact in such areas as lighting and costume design, and will be anticipated and accounted for early on.

SCHEDULES 

Rehearsal schedules at ArtsWest are malleable and developed on a per-project basis to suit the needs of the project and the people working on it.  This can look like a mix of daytimes, evenings, and/or weekends, all constructed based on the needs and schedules of the humans involved.  The majority of rehearsals outside of tech are no more than six hours long.  Rehearsal processes are generally 4-5 weeks long, including tech.  Beginning in 2021, ArtsWest has eliminated 10/12s, opting for 8-hour days over a longer timeframe.   

FIRST REHEARSAL 

A substantial portion of time on first rehearsal is dedicated to introducing the cast and creatives to each other, the staff of ArtsWest, and acclimating all to the space which will become their home over the next several weeks. 

Practices such as stating pronouns, inquiring about access needs, and forming community agreements are strongly encouraged in all rehearsal settings.  Beginning in 2021, a statement of values will be read and distributed at first rehearsal which addresses such things as: land acknowledgement, racism, sexism, and all other forms of oppression, and ends with a commitment to prioritizing the needs of and celebrating the work of those whose voices have been historically excluded in the curation, creation, and presentation of our work. 

ArtsWest’s grievance process will also be reviewed and distributed at first rehearsal.  The process includes multiple choices of who to speak with, and prioritizes the ability of each individual to express their concerns to someone they feel comfortable with.  Responsibility to then resolve these concerns fully lies with the leadership of the organization and not with the affected person. 

WORKING REHEARSALS 

The goal of working rehearsals is to create an environment that is transparent, open, safe and brave.  ArtsWest seeks to provide the maximum level of support to the rehearsal room through a variety of means.  Funding is provided in every production for a consultant or consultants to support exploration of the intersecting identities and issues in the play.  Past examples of this have included cultural consultants, gender consultants, racial equity consultants, and more. 

In addition, ArtsWest now has a reciprocal relationship with SOUND, a mental health organization, which will make available therapists to the cast and creative team when we are producing content that deals with racial and other forms of trauma. 

In the first working rehearsals, it is expected that the ways in which race and other forms of oppression manifest in the narrative will be named and discussed by the cast, creative team and consultants in a way that feels necessary and productive to each particular group’s process. 

Shows at ArtsWest are typically scheduled for a 3-5 week run, with performances Wednesday or Thursday through Saturday at 7:30pm and Sundays at 3pm. 

The goal during the run is to continue the level of support and responsiveness experienced from the creative process onward, adding the audience into this mix.  Shows with challenging themes are always presented with context for the audience through content in the lobby, content in the program, curtain speeches, and post-show or ancillary programming such as talk-backs and panels.  Beginning in 2021, a statement of inclusion for BIPOC audience cultural practices will be included in programs, displayed in the lobby, and covered in the onboarding and training of Front of House volunteers and staff. 

Beginning in 2021, ArtsWest will redouble efforts to support the audience for which BIPOC artistic work is intended.  Initial steps toward this goal include providing a welcoming space for BIPOC audiences, continuing to foster collective organizational cross-racial relationships, and investing in reciprocal relationships with BIPOC communities via our ArtsWest Voices program.   

The artists involved in the production are not called upon to be the facilitators of talkbacks or ancillary programming unless there’s a specific desire or reason to do so on their part.  In all cases we will ensure all artists are compensated for appearances at ancillary events, including talkbacks and donor events, and are never asked to volunteer their time.  Beginning in 2021, ArtsWest will ensure that all talkbacks and panels are moderated by culturally competent facilitators who are fluent in bystander intervention techniques. 

ArtsWest has developed a process for artist approval of the use of their image in marketing and fundraising materials used after the season in which the production was presented.

All production processes end with the opportunity for all involved to share post-mortem learnings as we work to incorporate progress made and lessons learned into our processes moving forward.

ArtsWest is committed to equitable hiring practices that center the matching of skills, interests and learned experience over education requirements and previous employment.    

All job openings will be posted with a salary attached and an expected timeframe for the process.   

Our hiring is done by a committee of at least three individuals with global majority representation.  The committee will explore their own biases before the interview process so that this awareness can be factored in our hiring process.  The committee will establish the criteria for the position and create a rubric to mark candidates during the hiring process.  All candidates will be reviewed anonymously by the committee as decisions are made to move candidates to the interview portion of the process.    

During an interview, a candidate can expect a conversational, non-confrontational environment focused on questions that speak to experiences. We do not want any barriers to interviewing for our candidates and as such, interviews can be in person or over zoom, and at a time of day that works for the candidate. We will ask about and will meet accessibility needs.   Following an interview process, every candidate interviewed will receive a phone call to share the outcome.