Strategic Vision

Note: This plan was created in fall 2019 by Executive Artistic Director Lisa Steindler, Managing Director Shafer Mazow, General Manager Abigail Pañares, and Associate Artistic Director Rose Oser, with consultation from Marc Vogl Consulting. It was slightly revised in May 2020 to reflect the impacts of COVID19. Z Space is also sharing Equity Action Updates, informed by these values and practices. 

Mission Statement:
Z Space empowers artistic risk, collaboration, and camaraderie amongst artists, audience, and community in the service of creating, developing, and presenting new work.

The following philosophical frameworks serve as core areas of focus that underpin Z Space, Word for Word, and Youth Arts strategic visioning and objectives for the next 3 years (2020-2022).

I. MULTITUDES (MANY VISIONS, MANY VOICES)

Framework:
We serve a multitude of diverse communities that call Z Space home. As local, national, and global arts ecologies evolve, we strive to be responsive and forward-thinking to ensure that artists from all backgrounds (including but not limited to race, gender, sexual orientation, class, and ability) and their work take priority; that our space and processes engender camaraderie, respect, and transparency; and that our singular and collective endeavors rely on and inspire empathy and trust. 

Goal:
Amplify voices that have been impacted by systems of racism and bias by increasing resources and opportunities for those who have been historically excluded from the narrative. 

Objectives:

  • Work to dismantle systems of bias and hierarchy that have long dominated the theater field. Commit to being an anti-racist organization. Hold ourselves accountable by requiring regular training in equity, diversity, and inclusion from all staff and board members. 

  • Continue to support new and long-time partnerships with artists and small arts organizations creating work responsive to and relevant for the Bay Area’s diverse communities. 

  • Establish Z Space’s identity, both internally and externally, as a forum for discourse.

  • Facilitate community discussions that inform and impact the work being created and experienced.

  • Define what it means for Z Space to be a “home” for artists (a place that artists come back to).

  • Maximize participation by increasing accessibility through capital improvements (those who cannot use the space cannot add to the dialogue), optimizing our website and database, and developing accessible ticket prices. Create and nurture a culture of care, intention, and welcoming.

II. PROCESS ORIENTED (PROCESS IS PROGRESS)

Framework:
Z Space strives to be a catalyst for creation in the pursuit of artistic excellence and innovation that advances positive social change, encourages new ways of thinking about or experiencing art, and uplifts communities through shared experience. Rather than focusing on product, we invest in the necessary processes of inquiry, exploration, iteration, and adaptation through which that excellence can be achieved. We are committed to being an advocate for the realization of a work’s greatest success, however that may be defined and wherever that may be realized.

Goal:
Provide space, resources, connections, and guidance for the creation, development, and presentation of artistically innovative and socially relevant new work created by and for diverse communities.

Objectives:

  • Maintain residency programs for late stage technical development as well as development of devised work through Z Forge.

  • Open pipeline for works in various levels of creation and development. 

  • Discover and embrace artists that are unknown to Z Space. 

  • Explore partnerships and support the development of new technologies, performance styles, and genres that integrate new ways audiences are understanding narratives and creating  “shared experience.”

III. ABUNDABILITY (FROM SUSTAINABILITY TO ABUNDANCE)

Framework:
Because of our business model, our health and success are interdependent with the health and success of the artists, organizations, and audiences that call us home. We seek models that simultaneously ensure fiscal and programmatic sustainability and embrace a responsibility to advance the position of artists, audiences, and the holistic value of diverse artforms beyond their current status. 

Goal:
Strategize a multi-year financial model that supports a thriving arts ecology for San Francisco that elevates opportunities and discourse for artists and audiences vulnerable to economic realities of our region and beyond.

Objectives:

  • Develop a case for support and strategic fundraising plan for Subspace program.

  • Expand Z Space’s role as an advocate for partnering artists and organizations, regionally and nationally.

  • Invest in capital improvements that increase the flexibility of the space for different kinds of rentals and diversify revenue streams that can help subsidize work. 

  • Develop operational and financial models for “resident” artists/organizations.

  • Formalize relationships with city and state agencies looking to increase opportunities for under-represented groups. 

  • Actively participate in efforts to establish equitable distribution of public funds for the arts. Empower artists, audiences, and staff to do the same. 

  • Explore and articulate Z Space’s unique holistic value and develop active audience engagement and individual giving plans that maximize participation and support. 

  • Hire, train, and retain reliable tech/production personnel to ensure that artists can utilize the Z Space production equipment and fully realize their visions.

IV. RETHINKING LEADERSHIP (WHO AND HOW)

Framework:
Z Space is committed to reimagining leadership models that both diversify who is in leadership positions and reimagines organizational and cross organizational structures that work as coordinated and cooperative systems of partnership. We strive to create an environment that gives new leaders an opportunity to thrive through an exchange of ideas that is open, inclusive, expansive, effective, and transformative.

Goal:
Learn from and contribute to new models of distributed leadership that represents the communities we serve and allow room for individual and organizational vision, growth, and success. 

Objectives: 

  • Continue work with Rainin New Models Cohort. 

  • Develop a values-aligned and functional framework for distributed and/or shared leadership.

  • Develop tools for assessment of decision-making processes and mechanisms for iteration and adjustments.

  • Increase equity and inclusion in hiring, Board recruitment, HR policies, and company-wide practices through Hewlett OE-EID-funded work.

  • Uphold radical transparency and increase opportunities for staff to engage in organizational assessment and progress.

  • Establish feedback mechanisms and protocols for more frequent and effective performance evaluation and professional development.

  • Continue and expand internal play readings, open rehearsals, and other avenues for the entire staff to be part of the artistic process.

  • Develop leadership transition plans, including processes for decision-making, timelines for internal and external communications, and development of new or redefined job descriptions.