Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

The Kranzberg Arts Foundation welcomes all communities into our venues and workspaces. We strive to make our spaces accessible and inclusive and understand that we are responsible for creating spaces and programs that provide opportunities and platforms for Black, Latinx, POC, Native, artists with disabilities, and LGBTQIA+ artists. We have invested heavily in building resources that are accessible and available to the entire St. Louis region. We remain committed to using our resources and influence to help build a more diverse and equitable arts community. Our efforts in 2021 will focus on our ability to invest, convene, train, and measure equity, diversity, and inclusion throughout our spaces and with our gifts.

Key Efforts

Invest

As part of our work to build essential infrastructure for the arts in St. Louis, we’re committed to incubating and incentivizing organizations run by members of underrepresented populations through the availability of discounted and donated space for performances, studios, offices, and commercial storefronts. We will diversify our vendor and contractor rosters to ensure we have a balanced mix of companies owned by underrepresented populations. We will dedicate a portion of our lease-holder improvement funds to be used to incentivize and support businesses owned by underrepresented populations within Foundation facilities.

Convene

Our work supports and intersects with that of countless other arts organizations, including our partners and residents. While many of our partners are already doing the work, we are asking every organization to commit to articulating their plans to build equity and diversity into their work by the end of 2021. To support these efforts, we will convene forums and cultivate resources to help our partners develop their plans and discuss how we can ensure that our gifts are accessible to diverse communities throughout our region.

Train

Foundation staff and leadership will conduct annual training on anti-bias, anti-racism, inclusivity, and diversity. We will also require this training for all new hires and volunteers during their onboarding. We will maintain wellness programs for staff that make mental health a priority. And we will identify and partner with organizations to help build career paths to diversify our team and create access to opportunities throughout the St. Louis arts ecosystem.

Measure

We commit to creating metrics and reporting on the progress of our stated equity and inclusion goals and promises.

Anti-racism statement

The Kranzberg Arts Foundation stands in protest of racism and discrimination in all its many forms. We stand in solidarity with Black people all over the world and with all of the Black artists, staff members, and colleagues that make up and represent our St. Louis arts ecosystem. From cultural appropriation to the exclusion of Black artists and people of color from opportunities and canonization, the arts have and continue to be a space that perpetuates systematic racism. As an arts organization, we have an obligation to work to end systemic racism in our community.

Land Acknowledgement

Every community owes its existence and vitality to generations from around the world who contributed their hopes, dreams, and energy to making the history that led to this moment. Some were brought here against their will, some were drawn to leave their distant homes in hope of a better life, and some have lived on this land for more generations than can be counted. Truth and acknowledgment are critical to building mutual respect and connection across all barriers of heritage and difference. We begin this effort to acknowledge what has been buried by honoring the truth.

We are standing on the ancestral lands of the Osage and Kiikaapoi People. We pay respects to their elders past and present. Please take a moment to consider the many legacies of violence, displacement, migration, and settlement that bring us together here today. And please join us in uncovering such truths at any and all public events.

– Adapted from the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture Honor Native Land Guide

Acknowledgement of the Work to be Done

The Kranzberg Arts Foundation has and continues to be committed to providing our city with essential infrastructure for the arts to thrive. We have invested heavily in building resources accessible and available to the entire St. Louis region. In our best intentions, we have often moved at a pace that did not ensure that we had included or engaged with voices from the surrounding neighborhoods and communities we serve. We have also missed opportunities to bring a more diverse roster of vendors and contractors to our developments and operations. We’ve learned through our work with the St. Louis ArtPlace Initiative the benefits of slowing down and working with the communities we seek to serve and bringing our values front and center. We remain committed to making our venues and workspaces equitable, diverse, and inclusive and understand we have a responsibility to use our resources and influence to help break the cycle of systematic racism and build a more equitable society.