In Solidarity with the Water Protectors at Standing Rock

November 16, 2016 This letter is in response to the Standing Rock Sioux’s call for statements of support. We encourage our members and partner organizations to write your own letters, sign a petition addressed to President Obama to permanently halt

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The Voices Pour Down: Our Theater ROOTS during the 40th Reunion

Founding members of Alternate ROOTS. Photo by: Melisa Cardona By Ashley Sparks | September 19, 2016 The late seventies and early 80s were seminal for U.S. theater history – especially southern theater history. In June 1976, a dynamic mix of

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In Pursuit of an Art with Consequences: Panel Discussion with Five ROOTS’ Founders

Transcribed & Edited by Jan Cohen-Cruz | July 29, 2016 This past July, when two more young black men were killed wantonly by white police, and then a black man killed five police, long time ROOTer Dudley Cocke wrote, “While

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Archival Revival | A Call for Cultural Development

By Dudley Cocke and Ruby Lerner Originally published: 1989 | Republished: April 11, 2016 The Archival Revival Series looks back at articles by ROOTers, about ROOTS, in celebration of our 40th anniversary. This series, and the field of arts activism, owes

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Who Counts?

Audience attending Roadside’s Appalachian Tent Tour By Dudley Cocke This article was originally on Roadside Theater’s blog and is used here with permission. Andy Horwitz’s Jan. 31, 2016 Atlantic article about the National Endowment for the Arts is telling: “The current state of

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Archival Revival | Cheerleader for the Revolution: Thoughts on Carpetbag Theater Company

By Ann Kilkelly Originally published: November 2002 | Republished: March 7, 2016 The Archival Revival Series looks back at articles by ROOTers, about ROOTS, in celebration of our 40th anniversary. This series and the field of arts activism, owes an

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From Script to Screen: Documenting the Free Southern Theater

Early Free Southern Theater promotional image, circa 1970.  Jason Foster & Kiyoko McCrae (New Orleans, LA) | February 2, 2016 “Through theater, we think to open a new area of protest. One that permits the development of playwrights and actors,

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The Places We Call Home: ROOTS Weekend at Zora Fest

(L-R) Ausettua AmorAmenkum and Jarrell Hamilton perform in Junebug Productions’ Gomela/to return: Movement of Our Mother Tongue. Photo credit: Melisa Cardona, 2014. Article by Tamiko Ambrose Murray (Asheville, NC) | January 4, 2016 Interested in attending ROOTS Weekend-Eatonville? Click here

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“Lord knows we’ll never be the same again, but at least we started telling the truth.”* A Report Back from Environment & Economy Day at ROOTS Week 2015

Land, Water, Food, Story altar installed by Clear Creek folks, created from copies of deeds to the land and rusty farm implements found on the land over the years. Photo: Nicole Garneau, 2015. Article by Nicole Garneau (Chicago, IL) Editor’s Note: This

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Using Art to Undo Imperialism

Dora Arreola in “Telares (o el Olvido),” with Mujeres en Ritual Danza-Teatro at ROOTS Week. Photo: Melisa Cardona, 2015.   Article by Anu Yadav (Washington D.C.) A woman silently gestures to me in the cafeteria, her face partially obscured by

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ROOTS Week 2015: A Preview

We are pleased, proud, and excited to announce the incredible artists, culture-bearers, organizers, activists, and scholars who will share their work with us at ROOTS Week under the banner, A Call to Action: Transformation. Within this theme, we’ll be focusing

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Indigenous Artists Gathering 2015 – Minneapolis, Minnesota

Lumhe “Micco” Sampson presenting his workshop, “Hoop Dance Teaching: Indigenous Circles of Leadership” at the Indigenous Artists Gathering. Photo: Ashley Minner, 2015.  Article by: Ashley Minner, Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina Alternate ROOTS Executive Committee Member (Baltimore, MD) Way back

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The Land Man & A Love For

Article by Carrie Brunk, Clear Creek Creative (Clear Creek, Rockcastle County, KY) Photos by Melisa Cardona (New Orleans, LA) Clear Creek Creative is a member of Alternate ROOTS’ 2014-15 Partners in Action cohort. It’s a bold move to drive off a rural

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Next Gen: At the Intersection of Past, Present, and Future

Article by Nicole Gurgel, Alternate ROOTS Content Developer (Albuquerque, NM) Next is a futuristic conversation. It’s talking about the psychic space of the future. Next is a stepping stone, a progression– it’s thinking about legacy. Next is a conversation with

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JOB ANNOUNCEMENT: ROOTS WEEK VISUAL ARTS COORDINATOR

Alternate ROOTS seeks a dynamic and visionary Visual Arts Coordinator for ROOTS Week. Thanks to continued support from the Joan Mitchell Foundation, ROOTS is able to dedicate time and energy to the cultivation of service to its visual arts members

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Something to Behold in West Baltimore

By Jamie Haft, (Syracuse, NY) This article was originally published at Roadside Theater: Art in a Democracy. It is reprinted here with permission.  This is a story about how residents, artists, community organizers, university professors, and students responded to a

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Appalshop Director Position Available

  Appalshop, Inc., the nonprofit arts and education organization in Whitesburg, KY, is searching for a Director who will help lead the institution as part of an organizational initiative that engages the new generation of Appalshop artists and institutional leaders

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Call for Artists! Y’all Come Back: Stories of Queer Southern Migration

Y’all Come Back: Stories of Queer Southern Migration is a project of love and grit, created by Queer Southern artists to tell the rich and layered stories of migration to and from the U.S. South. Y’all Come Back seeks visual

Route and Wing: Urban Interventions in Montreal

Article by Ebony Noelle Golden interruptions  ripples  migrations re-configurations this land is my home this concrete my ocean i am working a magic only the mothers’ of the dirt will know when i find myself home I must admit, I

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Raising Our Voices: Elevar Nuestra Voces

National Civil War Project Community Conversation JOIN US! Tuesday, May 20, 2014 6-9pm Atlanta Cyclorama & Civil War Museum 800 Cherokee Ave., Atlanta, GA 30315 Space is Limited – RSVP here These conversations are graciously hosted by the Alliance Theatre

Alternate ROOTS supports the creation and presentation of original art that is rooted in communities of place, tradition or spirit. We are a group of artists and cultural organizers based in the South creating a better world together. As Alternate ROOTS, we call for social and economic justice and are working to dismantle all forms of oppression—everywhere.