San Diego Human Dignity Foundation closed escrow yesterday on 4545 Park Ave. taking ownership of the building from Diversionary Theatre Productions, the non-profit organization that provides year round LGBTQ theatrical productions at the site. This smooth change of ownership will have no impact on the Diversionary Theatre’s work. Housed in the building as well is San Diego Lambda Archives which will also continue to operate with no impact as a result of the change of ownership.
“The intent of this purchase is to support the important work of both Diversionary Theatre and San Diego Lambda Archives by fixing their facility costs and allowing both of these beloved LGBTQ organizations to focus on their important work.”, said San Diego Human Dignity Foundation Executive Director, John Brown. Both the Archives and Diversionary have entered into new long term leases with San Diego Human Dignity Foundation that have fixed rental costs.
The concept of having a third party purchase the building to allow Diversionary Theatre to focus on artistic content and production came out of their strategic planning conference in February 2013.
“The gift of the building from a very generous patron strengthened our position in the community, and transferring ownership to SDHDF, a philanthropic leader in our community, enables Diversionary Theatre to further bolster our mission of providing high quality, world-class theatre productions that preserves and shares the stories of the LGBTQ community.” Stated Todd Nelms, President of the Board of Trustees, Diversionary Theatre. Now with a new Executive Artistic Director in place and the challenges of managing a multi-tenant building out of their hands, Diversionary Theatre is free to focus on the future.
“American Theatre is experiencing an extraordinary renaissance for new, multi-media and immersive work. Our landmark partnership with SDHDF gives us the time and resources to continue to create outstanding professional theatre, while forging greater relevance on the national scene with curiosity, innovation and confidence.” Says Matt Morrow, executive artistic director.
Diversionary Theatre was founded in 1986 with the mission to provide an inspiring and thought provoking theatrical platform to explore complex and diverse LGBT stories, which influence the larger cultural discussion. As the nation’s third-oldest LGBT theatre, Diversionary’s vision is to foster and amplify the next generation of LGBT voices by producing new plays and musicals in a dynamic, inclusive and supportive environment that celebrates and preserves its unique culture. Morrow, who joined Diversionary November 2014, plans to announce his debut season April/May 2015.
Lambda Archives is also very happy about the new ownership. President Maureen Steiner was very excited about this development for the Archives: “We are very pleased that we won’t be worried about our lease or rent increases now that San Diego Human Dignity Foundation has taken over the building and giving us a 20-year lease. We will continue to collect, preserve, and teach our LGBT history as we have been doing since 1987.”
“We will now be able to focus our fundraising on supporting our operations and the several exciting projects in progress: identifying and preserving LGBT historic sites (learn more from Board member Chuck Kaminski), video-interviews with Trans* community members (Thanks to Meredith Vezina and Ellen Holzman) and Senior Oral Histories (shout out to Bob Lynn),” Steiner continued. “Now, we are strengthening our efforts to fulfill the teaching element of our mission. That is why we are launching a FAIR Act Curriculum Project. This effort is headed by Board Member Fernando Lopez and Educator Bill McClain. We have evidence that the bullying of LGBT youth drops by 40 percent in schools where LGBT history is taught. We are so proud to be able to work to create a safer environment for the future generations of San Diego youth.”
The San Diego Human Dignity Foundation – SDHDF – is the sole community foundation in our region dedicated to the benefit of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. We fund programs and projects that promote equal treatment, tolerance, wellness, well-being, and above all else, human dignity. We work to strengthen LGBT organizations and leadership. We nurture philanthropic giving to support LGBT people and address important issues such as aging, arts and culture, health and wellness, youth and families, and civil rights.
