MIRACLE THEATRE GROUP
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Mission Statement
The mission of the Miracle Theatre Group, aka Milagro, is to provide extraordinary Latino theatre, culture and arts education experiences for the enrichment of all communities. Its vision: a community-centered Latino arts epicenter inspiring a new generation of art, artists and patrons from around the world. For over 30 years it has been the heart of Latino theatre, arts and culture for the Pacific Northwest. By creating authentic and accessible arts experiences for and about the diverse Latino community, Milagro gives voice to issues affecting that community by focusing on Latino art and culture in a typically non-Latino region; creating and supporting new work that is bilingual, multidisciplinary and touring; and providing connection to Latino artists and works through production, exchange and translation.
About This Cause
Milagro’s aesthetic is transformative, passionate and wonderfully imperfect, weaving together the cultural influences of Latin America and the Pacific Northwest. Milagro serves both the growing Latino community, who seek experiences reflecting family stories, values and traditions, and the broader community interested in learning more about the Latino experience. Our works strive for vibrancy, blending movement, dance, and music with poetic language to create stunning and visceral arts experiences as a creative bridge between cultures, a catalyst for intercultural connections and understanding. Significantly, in a region where only 11% of the population identifies as Hispanic, Milagro creates work that is Latino-identified yet speaks to diverse audiences. As Latino experience is diverse and evolving, Milagro seeks to present fresh currents in Latino arts and culture, with artists who are enthusiastic for risk, shared learning and collaborative creation. This work includes highly trained, experienced artists; new young artists with strong training and fresh ideas; and emerging artists with natural talent but little training and/or experience (predominantly from the native Spanish-speaking community). As a Latino-identified organization, Milagro has a responsibility to provide opportunities for passionate artists who have little opportunity to share their talents in our region due to language barriers. To ensure quality productions, Milagro has offered training programs for Spanish-speaking actors for almost every Spanish-language production since 2004. Milagro’s investment in these artists has resulted in the creation of a strong cadre of talent that not only performs regularly at Milagro but has also grown to serve on stages throughout the Portland area. We are committed to providing such opportunities as new artists approach us with passion and talent. Additionally, working with Latino artists has ensured authenticity in our productions unmatched in the region. Committed to reflect the diversity of the Latino experience, Milagro works with cultural experts who provide insight into the regional & national variety of Latino cultures. Milagro has won 27 Portland "Drammy" Critics Awards for Excellence in Direction, Set, Sound, & Lighting design, Acting and Overall Production. In 1997 Milagro acquired its own facility in inner SE Portland, establishing Portland’s first Latino arts and culture center and Milagro’s performance and administrative home. Locally, El Centro Milagro is an important part of Portland's theatre community, and welcomes and supports the use of its institutional resources & facilities by independent artists, and arts and social service groups, fostering creative development. Last season, El Centro Milagro hosted 140 community events, meetings, classes, programs, rehearsals, workshops, etc. serving approximately 5,145 individuals. The organization has discovered a rewarding role in serving as a home base for companies without a building or meeting space of their own, partnering with emerging companies, including BadAss Theatre Company, Staged!, Third Floor Sketch Comedy Ensemble, Los Portenos, and the Jewish Theatre Collaborative. Milagro is also an active participant with the Latino Theatre Commons, National Latino Theatre Alliance, Business for Culture and Arts, National New Play Network and the Small and Mid-sized Arts Coalition. Milagro has a strong history of arts services, exemplified in the creation of the Latino Artists eXchange/Intercambio de Artistas Latinos (LAX/IdeAL) in 2010. LAX/IdeAL is a multi-disciplinary community of creative artists coming together to build a network, strengthen careers and nurture future artists through workshops and regional conferences. This season, LAX IdeAL is offering professional development workshops while producing a multidisciplinary Latino Artists Showcase at the Antoinette Hatfield Hall in downtown Portland. Milagro serves an audience base predominantly low to middle income, Latino and student, reaching urban and rural audiences throughout Oregon and nationwide. It utilizes traditional and social marketing methodologies in both English and Spanish to reach its audiences through print, radio, TV and the internet. In order to make theatre affordable, Milagro has kept admissions moderate, offers generous Senior, Student and Group discounts, and participates in Arts for All, offering Oregon Trail Card holders $5 tickets to its programs and increases accessibility by ensuring that its website is duo-lingual, providing super-titles for Spanish language programs, and ASL interpretation. Milagro’s role as an educator is essential to its mission and goals: increasing arts and cultural awareness in the region’s diverse communities and nurturing new talent for the future. Milagro’s touring program provides bilingual arts and education programs to urban and rural communities throughout Oregon and the US. Milagro has expanded its repertoire to include Portland-area touring programs for elementary and middle school children as well as Spanish-language summer arts camps in neighborhood settings. Since 1997, Milagro's interactive literacy program, PUENTES, has integrated writing, theatre, visual art and storytelling together into bilingual programs for students of all grade levels, including environmental education, anti-bullying studies, literacy and social justice themes. By pooling the resources of district wide staff, teachers, social service program coordinators and community leaders, Milagro enhances statewide goals with culturally appropriate curriculum activities for schools and after-school program providers, concentrating on underserved communities of color. Milagro is also involved in efforts to connect with the broader community. Milagro is working with OYE, opciones y education, a sexual health coalition, and the Cascades Aids Project, to promote community involvement on sexual education topics for Latino youth and families to encourage healthy attitudes and behaviors regarding sexuality. Milagro is also working with the Coalition of Communities of Color to connect with local environmental groups, bringing about greater awareness of environmental concerns and activism within communities of color, and making environmental groups more aware of the socioeconomic disparities, institutional racism, and inequity of services experienced by families, children, and communities of color.