Broadly defined, community arts is a collaborative creative process between
a professional practising artist and a community. It is a collec-tive
method of art-making, engaging professional artists and self-defined communities
through collaborative, artistic expression. It is as much about process
as it is about the artis-tic product or outcome. Community arts provides
a unique way for com-munities to express themselves and enables artists,
through financial and other support, to engage in cre-ative activity with
communities.
This broad definition identifies three elements which separate
com-munity arts from other methods of art-making:
the co-creative relationship between artist and community;
a focus on process as an essential tool for collective,
collaborative, mutually-beneficial results;
the active participation of artists and community
members in the creative proces
Community arts is not new. Since the beginning of time,
artists have worked closely with communities to creatively educate and
build bridges of dialogue, understanding and con-nection in communities
where they have been torn down or never exist-ed. Community arts activities
can touch communities and artists deeply by highlighting or exploring
a particular aspect of a community in a creative way. Its socially-engaged
nature differentiates it from other art forms.
County Galway Community Arts Network.
What is new about community arts is the recognition of this
art-making method as a means by which to dissolve the divisions between
art, society and life; between the artist and the community. Given the breadth
of its definition, community arts is sometimes diffi-cult to distinguish
from those pro-jects that may have components of community activity. What
separates genuine projects from others is the nature of the collaborative
process and the active, co-creative involve-ment of artist and community.
Evolution of Community Arts
Creative expression has always been a powerful element of the social, economic
and political landscape of most societies. Art , in one form or another,
is an element of daily life in the majority of the world s cultures and
civilizations. It has been argued that Western society has gradually removed
the artist from that integral role in society, formalizing the arts and
isolating the individual creator as artist , rather than thinking of him
or her as part of the integral make-up of society. Community arts makes
it possible to remove that isolation; community arts projects put the artist
back in the role of co-creator and facilitator of public artistic expression.
County Galway Community Arts Network.
In the past 20 years, community
arts has evolved differently in the English-speaking world. In the United
Kingdom, for example, signi-ficant financial resources allowed community
arts projects to develop on a grand scale until the Thatcher years, which
saw severely curtailed cultural spending. In Australia, the concept of community
arts has been woven into the federal and municipal fabric, with paid community
arts facilitators at the local government level creating an infrastructure
for community arts activity. In Canada, the community arts movement has
been emerging at different rates throughout the various provinces.
In each country, including Canada, common elements have contributed to
the development and growth of community arts, including the:
recognition that arts activity, when integrated into the every-day
lives of people, is an effective means of addressing social and cultural
concerns;
need to make the arts accessible, supported and appreciated by larger
segments of society through more public and local exposure;
increased use of public and com-munity- based venues for artistic
expression;
need for funding institutions to recognize artists whose work is culturally/socially
engaged;
influence of non-Western artistic activities and art forms.
County Galway Community Arts Network.
The last point above
is especially sig-nificant when we think of the notion of equity and community
arts. For many First Nations artists, artists of colour and immigrant artists,
community arts is the manner in which they have worked and developed as
artistic creators throughout their lives. Their struggle with arts institutions
and agencies for access and recognition of their arts practices has largely
paved the way for community arts. As you read the Community Arts Workbook,
it is our hope that some of this background and context will help you think
about what community arts means to you and provide ideas or inspiration
for projects you undertake.
This is a workbook for artists, com-munities and the public for anyone
engaged in or who wants to become involved in community arts. It is designed
to give some background on the application of community arts as well as
provide hands-on tools advice, frameworks, techniques to help artists,
cultural workers and com-munities plan, begin, complete and evaluate a
community arts project.
