In writing 02 - April 3rd - The transformative powers of community art

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Last week I've been reading the report on the collaborative inquiry into "the transformative powers of community art". The list of success factors and threats (they call it "insights and challenges") make the study very useful on an operational level. I highly recommend this study to artists who are regularly working with people on an artistic level.

I consider some findings of this study very helpful to me in order to compare situated art with community art. I also find it very interesting in a methodological sense. Experienced practitioners articulated the research questions as well as the answers that were given. The researchers acting like involved but independent experts led the process, but the content was chosen and shaped by the subjects themselves. 

The brochure I discussed earlier summarizes the research very well. For now in the web log I will present two quotes from the full report that might be of remarkable interest to my study.

"The dominant methodology coming through these chapters is that inquiry through the arts helps people tap into questions of importance to them and others in the community."

"Though the importance of the affective and aesthetic dimensions of the learning process has been recognized (see Imel, 1998: Greene, 1995), for the most part they have been background to the cognitive and rational dimensions of adult learning theory and practice. Emphasis has been placed on verbal discourse and dialogue, as well as the processing of experience through thoughtful (and at times critical) reflection. The arts promote alternative, and powerful, methods for bridging boundaries and enabling learners to expand their experience by accessing those of highly diverse others. The arts are also a way of bringing into consciousness, and finding expression for, experiences and insights that heretofore a learner has not had the capacity to express."

Source: Hayes, S. & Yorks, L. (2007) "Lessons form the Lessons Learned: Arts Change the World When ...", in New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education Special Issue: Arts and Societal Learning: Transforming Communities Socially, Politically, and Culturally. Volume 2007, Issue 116, pages 3–11, Winter 2007. Wiley-Blackwell; New Jersey.