Sept. 2, 2022
Last fall, the board of trustees
shared with our community news of an incident where a part-time member of our staff made unacceptable, racist and threatening statements after an on-site social event with a resident artist. Upon reporting the incident, the artist who was also working as the on-site residency manager to facilitate the day-use residencies of several colleagues received an inappropriate response from Djerassi’s ED at the time and HR contractor. Regrettably, this response left the artist isolated at a time when they should have felt supported. These concerns were subsequently brought to the attention of the board of trustees and revealed some serious inadequacies in various aspects of the organization’s procedures for responding to something as serious as this incident. We began taking action and pledged to keep you informed.
Djerassi's staff and trustees have investigated and reflected in order to better understand what transpired. We dismissed the employee, accepted the ED’s resignation, replaced our Human Resources Representative, provided diversity training for all staff, and have taken a range of steps outlined below.
While over its four decades of operation the Djerassi Resident Artists Program has prided itself on being a safe and welcoming place for artists, staff, and visitors, during the past year the Program has taken important actions to make our organization safer for our community:
- We have adapted our staff and board leadership structure and continue to focus on diversifying our team at all levels to support the work of the Program and our artists.
- We have remained engaged with the artist who was harmed and undertaken a series of consultations with our staff, artists, and other members of our community to identify additional lessons, recommendations, or concerns.
- We worked with the Oppenheimer Investigations Group to review our policies and procedures, and to provide recommendations for our work moving forward. Following that review, we have instituted new policies and clarified others so that we are more responsive to concerns raised by staff, artists, and guests in the future.
- Our staff have undergone diversity and anti-oppression training, and both the staff and board will continue to work with experts for ongoing learning and implementation, so that we can continue to create a safer and more inclusive environment for all.
To those affected by this incident we apologize and express regret. At the same time, we reiterate our gratitude to them for elevating their concerns and for their continued engagement with us, helping to spur the important work the organization is undertaking. Djerassi is already a better place as a result of their efforts.
We also recognize that while we’ve made progress, this vital work is ongoing. Our efforts to improve all aspects of the organization's performance continue. We have been encouraged by the feedback and experiences so far from this year’s
cohorts of artists-
in-
residence, and we welcome further feedback from our community to help us grow. If you would like to inquire or contribute to this process at Djerassi, please reach out to us at info@djerassi.org.
The Djerassi Resident Artists Program is committed to this work, including ongoing training and best practices, to continue to provide the Gift of Time for artists who need our support now more than ever.
