CORE VALUES
- Collaboration with artists and audiences.
- Experimentation with structure, form, content, and aesthetics.
- Compassion, Empathy, and Respect in all aspects of our work and play.
- Representation of queer and womxn-centric narratives.
- Artistic Excellence through movement, music, story, and design.
EQUITY & INCLUSION STATEMENT
Umbrella Collective recognizes that we live and work on land that was and is the home of the Dakota and Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) people. We acknowledge the painful history of genocide and forced removal from this territory, and we honor and respect the many diverse Indigenous peoples still connected to this land.
We also acknowledge that systems currently in place have marginalized, underserved, and harmed Indigenous people, communities of color, immigrants and refugees, disabled persons, transgender persons, queer persons, and womxn / femme persons — most notably those at the intersections.
We strive towards intersectionality (gender, sexuality, race, disability) in all aspects of our work. We work from a culture of welcome to break down barriers to participation in our programming. We acknowledge that every artist brings their whole self under the umbrella, and we build creative processes rooted in communication, safety, and respect, so that artists feel supported to take creative risks and experiment with new ways of collaborating.
We expect to make mistakes, and many aspects of our work have not and do not yet represent our goals around equity and inclusion. Nonetheless, we’re committed to moving forward with compassion. We are constantly learning, and we encourage feedback on our continued efforts to make new work accessible to all.
Our IDEA (Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility) Committee is currently working on:
We also acknowledge that systems currently in place have marginalized, underserved, and harmed Indigenous people, communities of color, immigrants and refugees, disabled persons, transgender persons, queer persons, and womxn / femme persons — most notably those at the intersections.
We strive towards intersectionality (gender, sexuality, race, disability) in all aspects of our work. We work from a culture of welcome to break down barriers to participation in our programming. We acknowledge that every artist brings their whole self under the umbrella, and we build creative processes rooted in communication, safety, and respect, so that artists feel supported to take creative risks and experiment with new ways of collaborating.
We expect to make mistakes, and many aspects of our work have not and do not yet represent our goals around equity and inclusion. Nonetheless, we’re committed to moving forward with compassion. We are constantly learning, and we encourage feedback on our continued efforts to make new work accessible to all.
Our IDEA (Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility) Committee is currently working on:
- Investigating and embodying our policies and procedures around safety, respect, collaboration, and consent
- Implementing a racial and accessibility equity lens for all programming
- Identifying "best practices" to work towards, and "available practices" we can start right now
- Setting regular check-ins, benchmarks, and accountability measures for internal and external reporting
AESTHETIC STATEMENT
Our aesthetic is bold and unexpected. Our artists bring a variety of creative backgrounds and methodologies under the umbrella allowing our process to evolve and adapt for each unique project. This flexibility helps our storytelling remain nimble and visceral. We balance collaborative creation with original script development to tease out the most vital themes to share in our work. While all our productions may not look and feel the same (which we love!), audiences can always expect inventive staging and deeply moving performances as we tackle complex topics through stunning visuals, relatable humor, and a sense of play.
