To our beloved community,
Water in the Desert is a home for experimental art, trying new things and exploration. In our own ways, we have come up against and challenged ideas of creatively coming together, co-existing, and communicating with others.
The growing concerns and mounting media coverage surrounding COVID-19/Coronavirus are challenging us now and we want to take the time to communicate our efforts in minimizing the potential for exposure at the theatre and through our programming. We recognize that in Oregon things are shifting somewhat rapidly and so we are paying attention to the recommendations being made available and are working to be as adaptive to the process as possible. We are assessing every event we currently have booked on a case by case basis and are prioritizing the health of the staff, volunteers, and artists engaged with Water in the Desert, as well as our community members.
We are following public health recommendations regarding COVID19 and we want to assure you that we are taking steps to ensure our spaces are cleaned and disinfected frequently and that folks have what they need to protect themselves.
We are doing the following to ensure that our staff, volunteers, artists, and community members stay safe and healthy:
Monitor recommendations from the Governor's Office in Oregon
Assess events on a case by case basis and cancelling if it is appropriate
Offer programming following public health recommendations
Provide hand sanitizer at upcoming events
Routinely disinfect points of contact in high-traffic areas, such as door handles, counter tops, handrails & armrests, etc.
Instruct staff and volunteers to wash and sanitize their hands as thoroughly and as often as possible for at least 20 seconds with soap and water
Encourage staff and volunteers to stay home if they are experiencing any symptoms and when possible work remotely from home
We are also counting on you, as a member of our community, to help us maintain a safe and healthy environment. Please:
Stay home if you are feeling sick or experiencing symptoms.
Wash your hands frequently and thoroughly. Wash for at least 20 seconds with soap and warm water to clean your hands and use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer to kill germs
Maintain a reasonable social distance. Handshakes and close talking are off the table for now
Cover up any sneezing and coughing. If you’re sneezing and coughing, we request that you stay home until you are well. But if you do sneeze or cough while you’re out in public, it is important to cover your mouth or nose with your upper arm or a tissue. Dispose of used tissues and wash or sanitize your hands immediately.
Keep up to date with the Oregon Health Authority.
Be aware of the long term impact these cancellations have on artists and arts and culture organizations. Please consider donating to WITD or to your favorite arts organization who may be taking a hit because of folks staying home and event cancellations.
Also please patronize Asian businesses around Portland who may also be taking a hit because of unfair and racist stigma during this time, as noted by Portland United Against Hate.
In light of all of this, we have decided to cancel this weekend’s programs with Seattle artists Joan Laage, Sheri Brown and Alan Sutherland and have already refunded all tickets and workshop sales. We plan to reschedule these programs for another time once we have a better assessment of the situation.
For those folks who have rented our theatre or studio space, we will assess the continued use and access of these spaces through direct conversation with you. If you or any member of your production group are not feeling well, we encourage you to reschedule your rental for another time. Please email management@witd.org if you have any questions or are interested in rescheduling.
We are a few weeks out from Butoh College and are moving forward with the current schedule. We are working to create the conditions that will allow us to be as adaptive as possible. That means we are promoting the general recommendations for preventing the spread of COVID19, described above. We are ordering hand sanitizer for folks to use while they are in our space and will clean and disinfect the space between each of the workshops and performances. Please stay home if you do not feel well during this time. If at any time, it is determined that Butoh College should be cancelled, we will communicate this with everyone and work with individuals to figure out what a refund looks like if you have registered and paid for a workshop. Similarly, if you are not feeling well, we encourage you to stay home and we will work with you on a refund.
This is what we can share with you all now, but if the Governor offers different recommendations, then we will of course follow those instead, and we will stay in communication with you if that happens.
Thank you all for your patience and courage as we all work to create a safe and healthy environment for everyone.
--The WITD Staff
Marilou Carrera, Mizu Desierto, keyon gaskin, Crystal Sasaki