From new sound systems to social change
By: Isabella Holmes for The Dirt
The Veterans Memorial Theatre in Davis is the recipient of a $300,000 grant from the Hate Free Together campaign.
The Hate Free Together Campaign, designed to build community and foster social change, is funded by the California Art Council’s California Creative Corps program, and is a collaboration between the City of Davis, UC Davis, and Yolo County. Civic practice art making is at the heart of this campaign.
The Veteran’s Memorial Theatre is a city-owned structure, aiming to be a home for an array of visual and performing arts, as well as a social gathering space to foster civic identity.
Joseph Fletcher became the Theatre Manager of the Veterans Memorial Theatre in October 2019. Fletcher brings an extensive and varied theater background from stage managing the National Tour of Chicago the Musical, founding a theater company in Arkansas, and attaining an MFA in Dramatic Arts from UC Davis.
Hate Free Together will manifest at VMT in the form of an artist in residence program. Three theater companies can now call the VMT home: Davis Shakespeare Festival, Bike City Theatre Company and the Davis Repertory Theatre Company.
These companies will have free access to the VMT space, staff support, and equipment for the Hate Free Together Campaign—as well as opportunities to be paid for their work, a chance which is few and far between for theatre artists in this region.
“The residency program is for folks who are trying to make what they love their day job,” Fletcher told The Dirt.
Seventy-percent of the grant money will go to paying artists, thus promoting economic development through the arts and professionalization of arts organizations.
“For the first time, some of these organizations will be able to pay their core staff a salary,” Fletcher explained. “This can really change things.”
The three companies will use civic practice theatre in a grassroots campaign toward community engagement and social change. This will start with a series of listening and learning sessions with different community groups.
“Working from a place of curiosity—from not knowing—and being open to new ideas, people, and actions, is what will make this campaign effective,” Fletcher said.
Companies in residence will then design arts projects with groups that express their unique stories, challenges, and aspirations. The hope is that by providing an outlet for communities to directly express their experiences and needs, it will inform social action from civic leaderships, thus allowing these actions to be more tailored and effective.
In addition to this campaign, the VMT has spent the past several years upgrading much of its equipment and utility with funding from the Shuttered Venue Operations COVID relief grant of almost $90,000.
The new equipment—a new digital sound system, lighting, video monitoring, projector, Crestron AV system and more—have allowed the VMT to have “more utility, flexibility, and resources for the community,” Fletcher said.
The VMT prides itself on being able to support the production of an array of events, from film screenings, musical theater, live music, and much more. The theater also plans to introduce a new mobile stage in the coming months, allowing for performances all around Davis.
Neighbors may rent the Veteran’s Memorial Theatre space or equipment by emailing jfletcher@cityofdavis.org.
