BELOW ARE THE FRAMEWORKS & PRINCIPLES WE HAVE BUILT OUR VALUES AROUND.
THESE GUIDE US IN HOW WE HONOR OUR ARTISTS AND APPROACH THEIR WORK:

CORE VALUES + STATEMENT ON INCLUSION:
We want to clearly state that Offroute Art stands in solidarity with our BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ artists, supporters, community members, and fellow citizens. We grieve, time and again, the needless and senseless violence of the past and of the present. Offroute was created as a way to reimagine what an arts organization could be— A DIFFERENT PATH-- that serves and meets artists where they are. We welcome artists, customers, volunteers, and supporters and supporters from all backgrounds with love, respect, inclusion, and the assumption of best intentions.
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This statement has been revised and updated many times in two years as we as people, we are a community, and we as a world of global citizens face new challenges. In this spirit, when tragedies occur, we believe firmly that we cannot tell anyone how to feel, protest, or mourn, whether in the immediate wake of tragedy or the ongoing pain of 400+ years of trauma and suffering on this continent.

We do wish you safety and a sincere offer that if there is anything we can do to support anyone— artists, customers, community members (if you are reading this, you *ARE* part of our community)-- please let us know. It could be resources or support for a fund or project (there is no expiration date on this offer). It could be to help spread information.

Or, if you would ever like to talk about difficult conversations, mediation, restorative practices, or training in how to do so, let us know. Many members of the Offroute community have training and backgrounds in conflict resolution and would be happy to talk at any time, even if it's an informal one-on-one call. In the meantime, we are working internally to create more opportunities for community building, education, and collective growth.
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We acknowledge and strive to uplift the intersectionality of identities, struggles, and movements by giving youth platforms and opportunities to represent themselves and their worlds with conviction and honestly.

"Coherence directs our attention to the stories that we tell that make our lives meaningful. Its opposite is something like vertigo, a loss of orientation. Mystery directs our attention to the fact that the universe is far bigger and subtler than any possible set of stories that we might develop. Whatever we think, there’s more to it than that; it’s not a riddle to be solved but a mystery to explore. These maxims for making better social worlds can be derived from the concepts of coherence and mystery:
• Treat all stories, your own as well as others, as incomplete, unfinished, biased, and inconsistent.
• Treat your own stories as “local,” dependent on your own perspective, history, and purposes.
• Treat stories that differ from your own as “valid” within the framework of the other person’s perspective, history, and purposes.
• Be curious about other people’s stories.
​          -Barnett Pearce

"Community Weaving fosters a vibrant grassroots web, which builds and bridges social capital between individuals, among group members, and across community systems. The result is an intricate patchwork of conscientious citizens functioning interdependently with one another and formal systems, in order to mend the tears in the social fabric caused by fragmentation and shifts in the cultural, economic, and political climate. Given time, the beneficent presence and dynamic activity of Community Weaving changes the culture of community and transforms lives."
​          -Cheryl Honey
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