BISHOP ARTS THEATRE CENTER

Bishop Arts Theatre Center (BATC) is an award-winning, multicultural theatre company with IRS 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt status. In 2021, the theatre received Dallas Business Journal inaugural Leaders In Diversity Award, and in 2019, BATC received Theater Communications Group’s prestigious Peter Zeisler Memorial Award for exemplifying pioneering practices in the field and for taking risks for the advancement of the art form. BATC was chartered in September 1993 in Atlanta, Georgia, and founded by Executive Artistic Director, Teresa Coleman Wash. At that time, the theatre was producing dinner theatre performances at the Lakewood Playhouse and partnering with community groups such as Luke’s Place, a neighborhood organization that provided social services for men who were recovering from substance abuse. The specific objectives and purposes of this corporation are to:

• provide cultural and artistic opportunities and resources to children and adults from communities facing inequities whether social, economic, and/or educational,
• use theater as a platform for social change and to raise awareness about issues that are important to our community,
• provide instruction in theatre, acting, dance, and other art forms,
• produce special events involving public performances of plays, musicals, dance, and other art forms with various community art groups in order to broaden the cultural experience to a more diverse group, and
• directly engage and to facilitate others to engage in the promotion of the arts, generally