User:Cglubiak/sandbox

Mission
The Alliance of Latinx Theater Artists of Chicago (ALTA Chicago) is a service organization dedicated to furthering the Latinx Theater movement by promoting, educating, representing, and unifying Latinx identified theater artists and their allies.

History
ALTA was founded in 2010 by Tanya Saracho and Ricardo Gutierrez. A large factor in accomplishing their mission to unite and empower Latinx artists in Chicago was the development of the database. The ALTA Artist Database (AAD) is a professional development tool that allows ALTA members to indicate various aspects of their identities (such as race, ethnicity, ability, age and nationality), as well as their skills, talents, and areas of focus within the theatre.

In October 2016, Lucas Garcia, ALTA's content creator created the blog page, Perspectivas to serve as a way to keep to keep the community in the loop about Latinx artistic pursuits and what ALTA is up to.

ALTA gained national exposure in the fall of 2016 as a result of the town hall meeting they hosted with Victory Gardens Theater entitled The Color Game: Whitewashing Latinx Stories. Their live stream of the event went viral in the national arts community. The event included a panel discussion on casting for roles of color, and the consequences and effects of cultural and racial appropriation. There were also breakout groups focused on creating best practices to support future casting for directors, playwrights, actors, casting directors, producers, artistic directors, theatre critics, audiences, educational institutions, training centers, and scholars. Panelists included Liza Ann Acosta, Paul Oakley Stovall, Tommy Rivera Vega, Ilesa Duncan, Lavina Jadhwani, and Marcella Munoz.