SURVEY SUMMARY
The Artistic Directors of Color Alliance – Greater Los Angeles was created after a year of research and surveying the needs of theaters in the cohort. The survey, conducted in late 2021 to early 2022, gathered current information on the status of member theaters "to build a case for philanthropic investment in the field given a long history of underinvestment in BIPOC theaters by funders, corporate and individual donors and government."
The survey provided verification of what had up to then been anecdotal information. The findings in this survey pertain to the participating members of the cohort; they are not meant to be representative of all theaters led by artistic directors of color in Greater Los Angeles.
Because there has been massive upheaval in the arts and culture sector since the time of the original survey, a second shorter survey was distributed to Alliance members in early 2023. The findings below have been updated with more current information.
Survey findings included the following:
Programming Experience
Of the responding theaters, 46 percent have been programming for 25 years or more.
An additional 40 percent have been programming for 10-24 years.
Operating Budget
2023 Operating Budgets of the 14-member Artistic Directors of Color Alliance - Greater Los Angeles were extremely diverse
One company operates with a $12,000 budget, while the ADCA organization with the highest annual operating budget was just over $7 M
Three companies reported budgets of more than $1 M ($1,250,000 to $7,015,621)
Three companies have annual operating budgets between $162,000 and $574,000.
Four companies have 2023 budgets between $120,00 and $150,000.
Four companies reported 2023 budgets of under $150,000 ($12,000 to $149,218)
Staffing
Staffing situations also vary widely with the highest budgeted organization reporting 74 full and part-time staff members.
Seven ADCA organizations, however, reported zero number of staff as they rely on volunteers to accomplish their work
Of the remaining six companies, full and part-time staffing fluctuated between 1 and 10