Alternate Roots (Organization)
Historical Note
Alternate ROOTS is a member-driven regional arts service organization based in the South. The organization is artist-led and artist-focused and serves to connect and support artists working at the intersection of art and activism with a focus on community building and dismantling oppression in all its forms. The name derives from the term “Alternate” as in an “alternative”, and “ROOTS” is an acronym for “Regional Organization Of Theatres South”. The organization is now multidisciplinary, and the membership body includes individuals and groups who are not in the Southern region.
Alternate ROOTS formed in 1976 through the gathering of theatrical professionals at the Highland Center in New Market, Tennessee. Originally, the Highlander Folk School founded in 1932, the Highland Center’s purpose is to serve as a catalyst of grassroots movement building throughout Appalachia and the southern United States. Citing the values of the Highland Center, Alternate ROOTS was created to serve activist artists whose work is created for and within their communities to advance social and economic justice reforms and advancement. Alternate ROOTs is primarily a network for artists interested in the use of creativity to advance profound change within society at the fundamental level of community-based advocacy.