Our Stories

Dear Friends,

Over the past ten weeks, the novel coronavirus has helped expose the staggering depth of systemic racism in our country as communities of color have disproportionately borne the impact of a broken healthcare system, underfunded school systems and unequal protections in the workplace, to name just a few inequities.

In the same ten weeks, horrific violence perpetrated against George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery has provided the most recent stark demonstrations of how structural racism has been weaponized against Black citizens. Theirs are the names we know — the unnamed victims are legion, and the injustices perpetrated against them stretch back over centuries.

Meany Center stands in solidarity with our Black colleagues, students and community members in the fight for justice and against the endemic structural racism that underlies social, economic and educational inequity.

As a presenting arts organization, Meany Center also stands behind the artists whose work speaks their truth. We believe that the arts are one of the most powerful and essential tools that we have on the path to authentic social change — an extraordinary portal for understanding another's reality, and an impetus to create new social paradigms.

As part of the University of Washington, Meany Center believes in the strong statement made by University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce in response to this difficult moment in our national history.

We agree that the post-pandemic goal should not be to go back to the way it was. We cannot give up or go back — we must do better. In our community, we will continue our work to address issues of equity, racism and bias.

Meany Center is committed to becoming an anti-racist organization, and to expanding diversity, equity, inclusion and access in our present and future operations with the goal of becoming the change we want to see in the world.

We are committed to doing this important work, and to working collectively with artists and arts and culture organizations across our community to dismantle the institutional racism that has caused incalculable pain and damage to People of Color in our city and across our country.

Sincerely,

Michelle Witt
Executive and Artistic Director
Meany Center for the Performing Arts