“8,” Fresh Fruit Festival 2012

MISSION

   Fighting Prejudice Through The Arts

Established in 1991, All Out Arts is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit devoted to bringing together the diverse artistic, organizational, political and financial resources of the LGBTQ community in order to fight intolerance. All Out Arts fulfills its mission by supporting arts organizations within the community through fiscal sponsorship, events, contests, collaborations, networking events for emerging artists, and by sponsoring productions, concerts and exhibitions of visual arts. We confront homophobia through the humanizing influence of the arts, and the Fresh Fruit Festival is the primary expression of the All Out Arts mission.

The Fresh Fruit Festival is presented by All Out Arts to celebrate the LGBTQ community’s unique perspective, creativity & diversity, and to build links between the LGBTQ artistic communities, be they local or international.

HISTORY

Fresh Fruit Festival was the creation of two long established LGBT community arts groups:

New Village Productions, established in 1989, had produced ten LGBT short play Festivals including an international short play Festival in conjunction with the Vineyard Theater and Gay Games 1994. New Village Productions was committed to diversity and the celebration of difference, both in selection of material and by inclusion of disabled and minority artists, many of whom served on the Board and steering committees.

All Out Arts’ mission fulfillment is constantly evolving.  To this end we  produced All Out Music which became “OutMusic”  (which in turn initiated the Out Music national collective of LGBT musicians and Composers!) and All Out Youth – our fledgling performance-art program for at-risk LGBT youth. Our OutWords series of events for LGBT writers includes panels, a regular Slam LGBT Poetry contests and OutWright, our Developmental Reading Series for playwrights and poets.  Throughout the decades, our motto remained Fighting Prejudice Through The Arts.