Welcome Alternate ROOTS!!
I’d like to give a big WELCOME to our friends and, now, our partners at Alternate ROOTS. They became our newest partner in the Open Arts Network today.
Alternate ROOTS is a tremendous organization that I am always referring people to. From their website:
“Alternate ROOTS provides the connective tissue for a distinct segment of the arts and culture field - artists who have a commitment to making work in, with, by, for and about their communities, and those whose cultural work strives for social justice. While this is a large sector in U.S. arts and culture — many artists work in this way and share these aims — these practitioners are, for the most part, informally organized and collaborations are often the result of chance as much as choice. Alternate ROOTS contributes to the sustained artistic development, increased visibility, and stability of activist artists.
Alternate ROOTS was founded in 1976 at the Highlander Center in New Market, Tennessee in order to meet the distinct needs of artists who work for social justice, and artists who create work by, for, about and within communities of place, tradition, affiliation, and spirit. Originally an acronym for Regional Organization of Theaters South, ROOTS quickly established itself as a thought leader in the field of community-based arts and the only regional collective of artists committed to social and economic justice. In response to the needs of the growing field of community-based arts, ROOTS evolved to a multidisciplinary member-based and artist-driven organization. Member artists develop programs, and ROOTS provides resources for the needs of these socially conscious artists.”
I had the pleasure of attending ROOTS’ annual meeting two years ago in Arden, NC. The meeting is not really a conference — it’s more of a retreat that is a meeting of minds, art, and action. Many of us create art without thinking about social implications or how it can be used to bring together and/or impact our communities in positive ways. That’s certainly fine — there’s nothing wrong with that. But Alternate ROOTS’ members have higher aims. They seek to create art that can empower and make change. I was amazed to see some of the work that the members had created. I was excited to learn more about groups like Appalshop in Whitesburg, KY and New WORLD Theatre at UMass Amherst. This type of art was an entirely different scene than what I was used to. And I was thrilled to be a part of it. This is why I’m so glad to officially have Alternate ROOTS as a partner in our Open Arts Network.
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