originally published: 11/09/2022

New Jersey Theatre Alliance, one of the state’s largest arts service organizations, along with a coalition of members of the Association of Performing Arts Service Organizations across the United States and Canada, has released a statement of support and solidarity for Nataki Garrett, Artistic Director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

Ms. Garrett was recently featured in a National Public Radio story where it was revealed that she has received death threats due to her programming choices that lift up diverse artists and arts leaders. She now travels with security for public events.

The following statement of support has been co-signed by 24 arts service organizations across the United States and Canada:

"As an international coalition of theatre and performing arts service organizations, we collectively voice our support, admiration, and respect for Nataki Garrett, Artistic Director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

"Ms. Garrett is a leading national figure both as a theatre artist and an advocate for a society that is more equitable and just. Arts organizations across the country look to Oregon Shakespeare Festival as a beacon of progress, creativity, and innovation on stage and off. It is notable that while OSF has been a leader in the work of diversifying artistic programming, artists, and staff for over a decade, it is only now, when a Black woman is at the helm, that public resistance has taken the form of unconscionable threats of violence.

"We denounce, in the strongest possible way, any and all threats of violence against artists and arts leaders, and we are particularly alarmed and disgusted by the layers of misogyny and racism that underly the threats against Ms. Garrett’s life.

"Artists have always been at the forefront of imagining new worlds, encouraging empathy, and expanding the stories that are told. No artist should be made to fear for their life because of their creative contributions or their personal identity.

"Our organizations are charged with offering the arts field leadership through service. We have members in all fifty states and Canada. We are a community of artists and leaders, all working toward a world where the arts can continue to make the world better, more inclusive, and more representative of all people’s lived experience. We are grateful to Nataki Garrett, as well as the board, staff, and artists of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for their significant leadership in the field. We stand in solidarity with Ms. Garrett as she navigates these unacceptable threats of violence while continuing to lead her organization with the courage, grace, artistry, and vision for which she is known."

Sincerely,

Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York (A.R.T./New York), ArtPride New Jersey, Arts Administrators of Color Network, ArtsBoston, Asian American Arts Alliance, Austin Creative Alliance, Boston Dance Alliance, Dance/USA, Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance, Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Inspire Washington, League of Chicago Theatres, Milwaukee Theatre Alliance, Minnesota Fringe Festival, National Guild for Community Arts Education, New Jersey Theatre Alliance, Portland Area Theatre Alliance, StageSource, TDF, Theatre Bay Area, Theatre Communications Group, Theatre Philadelphia, Theatre Washington, and Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts.

To view the statement on the New Jersey Theatre Alliance website, and learn more about how Ms. Garrett and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Board of Trustees have responded to this situation, please click here.

For instructions on how to send your own statement of support, please click here.

Founded in 1981, New Jersey Theatre Alliance was the first statewide service organization for professional, not-for-profit theatre companies in the United States, and is a leader in developing model programs that unite, promote, strengthen, and cultivate professional theatre in New Jersey. Funding for the New Jersey Theatre Alliance, a not-for-profit organization, is provided in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, New Jersey Arts and Culture Renewal Fund of the Princeton Area Community Foundation, and contributions from numerous individuals, corporations, and foundations including Amazon, The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Grunin Foundation, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, Bank of America, City National Bank, The Shubert Foundation, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, The Hyde and Watson Foundation, The F.M. Kirby Foundation, E.J. Grassmann Trust, The Union Foundation, and OceanFirst Foundation