Theatre Bay Area And Amazon Pave The Way For More Diverse Theatre Leaders

Theatre Bay Area announces its new partnership with Amazon to provide opportunity and mentorship to aspiring theatremakers from marginalized populations. TBA's new Arts Leadership Residency places four, early-career arts leaders in residencies at larger theatres, under the mentorship of seasoned artistic directors and Managing Directors. "These residencies are designed to advance the careers of people whose identities are enormously underrepresented in leadership positions at larger theatres," says Theatre Bay Area's Programs Officer Dr. Melissa Hillman. "The grant focuses on BIPOC, disabled, trans, and nonbinary artists, all of whom have been traditionally shut out of leadership roles."

"We are inspired by the work of Theatre Bay Area and their effort to empower and lift up new artistic voices," said Sally Kay, Amazon's Sr. Manager of External Affairs in northern California. "This initiative will create a meaningful difference for the future of arts in our community and we thank TBA for the opportunity to participate."

Amazon's partnership with Theatre Bay Area provides funding to underwrite the residents' wages, and the grant requires the host companies to provide the resident both mentorship and the opportunity to helm a significant project. The Arts Leadership Residency is just in its second year, but the program has already seen incredible success. Leigh Rondon-Davis, an awardee in the program's first year, has recently been named Associate Artistic Director of Shotgun Players in Berkeley, the company in which Rondon-Davis did their residency. "The residency provided a structure for Leigh and I to meet twice a week for 2-4 hours just to discuss and dream about what changes we could make to the organization. It was a great foundation to build trust and a relationship," says Shotgun Artistic Director Patrick Dooley. "Leigh and I have really evolved our relationship to be partners in the artistic leadership of the company." TBA Executive Director Brad Erickson adds, "That's exactly the outcome we were hoping for with this grant. We've never partnered with a company like Amazon before, and they've been very supportive. Our hope is to continue to grow and expand the program so we can place more of these amazing artists with critically important perspectives into leadership roles in the Bay Area and across the country."

The new cohort of residents in TBA's Arts Leadership Program continues the legacy begun by the first cohort. The 2021-22 Arts Leadership cohort is Virginia Blanco in residence at AlterTheater in San Rafael, Devin Cunningham in residence at African-American Shakespeare Company in San Francisco, Daniel Duque-Estrada in residence at Magic Theatre in San Francisco, and Julius Rea in residence at the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre in San Francisco. More information about the 2021-22 cohort can be found at theatrebayarea.org/leadershipresidency.

Erickson states, "TBA has been working on ways to increase diversity in arts leadership through career path workshops for artists, trainings for current leadership, and other initiatives, but this is the first time we've been able to just place these future arts leaders right into these companies." Hillman adds, "The theatre industry has spent a long time talking about the lack of diversity in arts leadership. It feels good to be able to do something concrete to change that."

ARTS RESIDENCY RECIPIENTS

Round 2 (Fall 2021)

· Virginia Blanco, in residence at AlterTheater (San Rafael)

· Devin Cunningham, in residence at African-American Shakespeare Company (San Francisco)

· Daniel Duque-Estrada, in residence at Magic Theatre (San Francisco)

· Julius Rea, in residence at Lorraine Hansberry Theatre (San Francisco)

Round 1 (Fall 2020)

· Aidaa Peerzada, in residence at SFBATCO

· Michael Wayne Rice, in residence at Livermore Shakespeare Festival

· Leigh Rondon-Davis, in residence at Shotgun Players

· Maya Herbsman, in residence at Cutting Ball Theatre

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