“Theatre. Film. Community.”
OUR MISSION
Ground Up & Rising, Inc. is a 501(c)3 nonprofit professional theatre and film organization whose programming is intended to widen our empathetic sensibilities and promote understanding amongst humankind by underscoring that we are all so much more alike than we are different.
We strive to present culturally relevant and thought provoking material with non-traditional, colorblind casting; allowing for hiring that promulgates equality in both artistic and administrative composition. Ground Up & Rising proudly nutures the artistic growth of all races and creeds, and is happy to provide minority artists opportunities to render a wide spectrum of roles that would be traditionally unavailable to them. This institutional promise is forged from the embers of our beautiful country's core values, thus representing the melting pot heritage of both Miami and America.
We aim to engage our audience by portraying through our characters the wide gamut of emotions and life experience that manifest themselves throughout each of our lives. We all have the capacity to hope, suffer, smile and empathize. Ground Up believes these are the common ground themes that unite each of our individual personal experiences. The organization's artistic efforts highlight both the beautiful and atrocious facets of the human condition. Our work serves to inspire our patrons with what people can be while providing light on the destructive tendencies that bring us to harm.
Our company is devoted to the ongoing development of the South Florida community by giving local artists the platform to hone and showcase their talent through the mediums of theatre and film. Ground Up & Rising serves underserved communities throughout Miami-Dade County that have been traditionally geographically and/or economically excluded from opportunities to experience quality professional theatre and educational opportunities. Although our programming is for audiences of all ages, Ground Up & Rising is committed to programming for the younger generation as they are the most important demographic. We are invested in the youth as they are the generation whose actions and influence will shape the framework of our future.
WHO WE ARE Diversity, both cultural and ideological, is one of the cornerstones of our company’s philosophy. Founded in late 2005, Ground Up & Rising is comprised of driven artists – ranging from Cuban-Americans to African-Americans, Jewish-Americans to Mexicans, Haitians to Argentines – who truly represent a cross-section of the South Florida community.
Our company members are primarily first-generation Americans, descendants from people who came to this country looking for hope and freedom from repression. We aspire to fulfill the American Dream and carve out a fruitful existence in a nation that is newly ours. The diverse composition of our organization is a tribute to and a direct reflection of the cultural melting pot that is Miami.
WHO EXACTLY ARE THE "UNDERSERVED"
To many, the word “underserved” usually is used to describe people in low-income neighborhoods and rural areas, where social services and community programs are rare or non-existent. For Ground Up & Rising Inc., the term holds a much broader meaning. From the most affluent suburbs to the most neglected constituencies, a dearth of community programs that encourage interest and development of the Arts leads to a similar conclusion: future generations of potentially brilliant minds that grow with little or no exposure to the Arts and the chance to create within them
GROUND UP EAST
As the founding chapter of our organization, Ground Up East is grounded in committing ourselves wholly to each community - one market at a time - all the while reaching for ambitions of global expansion. Ground Up East is entrenching itself in the two most famous melting pots on the eastern seaboard: Miami and New York.
GROUND UP WEST
As our latest upstart venture, Ground Up West follows our mission of creating community specific programming centered around the culturally relevant. We bring our hands-on approach to the Los Angeles area and provide the wide variety of people-first initiatives that Ground Up & Rising was built upon.
"Best of 2006 in Performing Arts"
- Miami Herald
Theatre. Film. Community.
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Our Vision
To provoke, push at, break through the hapless confines of modern theatre and film – one that finds its niche so often within the habitual walls of convention and conformity.
To replace the safe and already treaded with the avant-garde and the risqué.
To talk to our audience where so many choose
to preach.
To speak to them in a language that is theirs, in stories to which they
can relate.
To speak to the most important demographic, the generation whose decisions, work, art, actions, and influence will shape the framework of our future …
To speak to the young, the idealistic, the hard-headed, the listener, the student, the laborer, the optimist,the lost, the driven, the hopeless, the scarred, and the innocent …
To show them the world is ours, the 18-35 year olds; moreover, that the promise of tomorrow resides squarely on our shoulders, and any change for the better will be directly connected to our commitment to it. |
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