Preparing for Civil Unrest

Arts and culture organizations have long served as vital, inclusive community spaces, but recent events have shown they can also be vulnerable during times of civil unrest. This guide, created by Majestic Collaborations, offers practical steps—assess, prepare, implement—to help organizations protect their people, spaces, and cultural missions. The goal is to ensure these institutions remain safe, resilient beacons of community, creativity, and connection.
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1. Assess

The first step is to assess your organization’s situation. Ask yourself what happened the last time there was civil unrest in your area and use those lessons to inform your actions. Ensure you conduct a site walk through, communicate with neighbors, locate and update important information, and secure or relocate your assets.

  • Security & Fire: Ensure cameras, locks, alarms, sprinklers, and extinguishers are fully functional
  • Hazards: Walk your site, making note of dumpsters, planters, rocks, and flammables
  • Recent Past: Use lessons learned from previous events to prioritize actions now
  • Neighbors: Learn about their concerns and plans for civil unrest

2. Prepare

It is also important to engage in preventative measures to prepare your organization. Scheduling additional security for the day of a protest or election day is a good step in preparing your site. For the safety of your staff, communicate the plan to all staff members and ensure everyone is involved. Practice by sending test communications and running lockdown and evacuation drills.

  • Remove: Projectiles such as rocks, planters, stanchions, trash cans, as well as obstructions to security camera sightlines
  • Purchase & Contract: Plywood or window film to protect windows, graffiti removal supplies, additional security, and perimeter fencing
  • Relocate: Irreplaceable art, records, and expensive equipment offsite or to interior, locked rooms
  • Plan, Practice, & Update: Plan and practice for building lockdowns and evacuations, and ensure staff, first responders, and security contacts and protocols are up to date

3. Implement

Once you’ve created a plan, be ready to implement it. It’s better to have a plan in place for evacuation or lockdown that didn’t end up necessary than to have wished you had. Don’t be afraid to take precautions and prioritize the safety of your staff and organization.

  • Remain Calm: Having a clear head will help you adapt in quickly changing situations
  • Prioritize Staff Safety: Ensure staff members are not present at highly volatile times
  • Stay Informed: Monitor local news sources and the social media accounts of local and state officials
  • Act!: Be ready to call a shelter in place, lockdown, or evacuation, and safely call for medical attention for people you observe in need

A note about the spirit in which we put together this resource

For centuries arts and culture organizations have served as a community gathering space for people from all backgrounds. These spaces welcome diversity, they are a place to share with others our art—a piece of our souls. They are a place to be seen, to be heard, to be recognized—they are a beacon of light within our communities.

Our work at Majestic Collaborations seeks to empower communities to address environmental and humanitarian concerns with art, culture, design, and planning. As such we collaborate with others to design emergency action plans and disaster response plans. Our vision for our work is to provide these iconic cultural institutions the resources and tools to fortify against emergencies and provide for the safety of staff, volunteers, and the art and culture they shepherd.

In sharing this content we hope this acts as a guide for organizations to prepare their spaces in the event of hostilities that threaten spaces integral to our communities and the culture and people they represent. We hope these resources will help preserve the safe, transformative, enlightening, and joyful nature of these spaces so that organizations can continue to welcome people into community.

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Episode Guide

What do the Astroworld tragedy, Glastonbury Festival, and a royal coronation have in common? In this kickoff episode of Art of Mass Gatherings Podcast, crowd safety expert Emma Stuart shares eye-opening insights on managing risk, building resilience, and why community events can lead the way in safety innovation. Whether you’re planning a block party or a major festival, this conversation is packed with lessons you won’t want to miss.

Speakers & Guests

Emma Stuart, freelance Event and Operations Manager whose event experience includes the Taylor Swift Zone Ex, royal coronation, FIFA, and Commonwealth Games.