In April 2022, Metal committed to publishing an update in six months on our anti-racism work including demographic information about our staffing, trustees and commissioned artists.
Staffing: Of our 15 permanent members of staff across 3 sites, 4 (27%) are people of colour including our newly appointed CEO who will start in November 2022.
Board: Of our current 11 members, 4 (36%) are people of colour. We are aiming to appoint a further two Board members by the end of the financial year.
Artists: Over the 2021/22 period we worked with 679 artists of which 156 (23%) are people of colour. (23% artists of colour; 18% disabled; 53% women; 6% non-binary; 22% LGBTQIA).
We have also curated publications and events like In Other Words 1&2, commissioning artists specifically from marginalised backgrounds to explore their hopes and fears for the future. http://www.metalculture.com/projects/in-other-words
Training: As a full staff team and Board we have participated in Unconscious Bias training with Artswork; anti-racism training with the Diversity Trust; and we are currently on a three-month programme led by Talawa Theatre Company to develop our Anti-Racism Action Plan. This includes exploring identity and privilege, language and behaviours, and development of an inclusive workplace.
We have re-established our staff book club post pandemic and are currently reading ‘This Work Isn’t For Us’ by Jemma Desai. Also, as part of the annual objective setting and appraisal process, all staff now include an Inclusion and Relevance objective as part of their individual development plans.
We continue to strive to be an organisation where everyone feels they belong and the interactions with us are positive and supportive. In the spirit of transparency and accountability, we commit to publishing a further update on our progress at the end of the financial year.
