Art + Information + Conversation = Social Change
Out of Hand works at the intersection of art, social justice, and civic engagement. We help create a more just world through programs that combine theater and film with information and conversation.
Since 2001, Out of Hand has collaborated with dozens of community partners to produce programs that combine art to open hearts, information to open minds, and conversation to process feelings and thoughts and make a plan for action. Our programs include Equitable Dinners, Shows in Homes, Community Collaborations, Creative Kids, and the Institute for Equity Activism. All of our programs are based on two pillars, racial justice and economic justice, and they take place in homes, schools, businesses, houses of worship, public spaces, and on Zoom.
Out of Hand’s Commitment to Anti-Racism
Out of Hand Theater has increasingly committed to anti-racism over the past few years, and we are now deepening and formalizing this commitment.
Over the past several years, we have collaborated with community partners to address structural and systemic inequities and injustices in Metro Atlanta. Working at the intersection of arts and social justice, we have focused our programming specifically on racial justice.
As a company that works in racial justice in a city that is majority Black and in a region that is majority people of color, it is perhaps even more important for us to prioritize representation and leadership by Black people, Indigenous people and other People of Color (BIPOC) on our staff and board. This year, we are placing racial equity at the center of our strategic planning process. However, we recognize that some of the most important work that we can do as a company is to acknowledge and root out our own internalized white supremacy. To do this, Out of Hand is developing an on-going anti-racism training plan for all staff and board members. The pursuit for racial justice and the fight against anti-blackness is a marathon not a sprint, and a movement not a moment, and we are committed to deep, intentional, and long-term work.
“Ariel Fristoe (Artistic Director of Out of Hand) wasn’t fazed. ‘It takes just a small perspective shift to use theatrical skills to create a more just world,’ she said. ‘I’m shocked at how well it works.’”
— The New York Times