Davis Shakespeare Festival (DSF) is a professional non-profit 501(c)(3) theatre company based in Davis, CA. From 2010-2013, DSF partnered with the UC Davis Arboretum to produce several successful productions in the Shields Grove Gazebo. From 2014-2019, DSF partnered with the City of Davis to bring its work to the Veterans Memorial Theatre. During that period, DSF also provided educational programs like DSF Youth Theatre and Camp Shakespeare. During the last two years of the pandemic, DSF created its Digital Internship Program (DIP). Since 2020, DIP produced a wide range of digital content, from blog posts to streaming performances.
Our current project, Vacancy Arts Collective, is inspired by the collaborative process we developed during the Digital Internship Program. Vacancy Arts Collective's mission is to cultivate community joy by aligning socially conscious art with equitable practice.
DSF is currently giving full focus to its new program, Vacancy Arts Collective (VAC). VAC’s mission is to cultivate community joy by aligning socially conscious art with equitable practice. VAC produces works that represent the identities of the artists and team members involved with each production. Vacancy means there is room.
DSF primarily needs support for its general operating budget in order to maintain both permanent and temporary staff to execute our upcoming season. Funding will also go towards month-to-month overhead which allows operations to continue. As DSF continues to put forward new and exciting work other areas in need of support are commissioning artists, outreach programs, and marketing.
DSF strives for cultural equity through storytelling and education that promotes cultural joy by maintaining spaces that are reflexive, inclusive, and accessible to limitless communities.
Davis Shakespeare Festival grew from its belief in the timeless and impactful storytelling of William Shakespeare. DSF strives to take Shakespeare down from his pedestal and make his work more accessible to people of all backgrounds, cultures, and interests. While Shakespeare has offered and continues to offer so much to the world, we feel the responsibility to decentralize Western ideals and systems put in place that do not allow certain people and ideas a seat at the table, or in our case, the rehearsal room. Compassion and collaboration are values that we have always held dear but now it is imperative that we hold ourselves and those we work with accountable should those values become undermined. Whether we are producing a Shakespearean comedy or a new devised work, we vow to center the community.
Organization name
Davis Shakespeare Festival
other names
DSF
2011
Mission Category
Arts, Culture & Humanities
Operating Budget
$100,001-$250,000
Organization Need
Funding: Unrestricted, Funding: Program, Funding: Other, In-Kind Donations, Volunteers
BIPOC Leadership
Executive Director/CEO
Local Counties Served
Sacramento, Yolo
Address
PO Box 842Yolo County, CA, US
Sacramento County, CA, US
Sacramento, CA, US
Davis, CA, US