2021 Reflections on Community Arts Projects, Practices and Stakeholder Engagement Tactics

The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the realities of what can be considered community arts. The implications of the pandemic on more highly-resourced and funded performative models may be influencing artists and funders to think differently about the importance of community arts practices. Given the many injustices that remain at the forefront of current socio-political conversations (#metoo, #blacklivesmatter, #climatejusticenow), retooling language is also key for the arts.

Community-engaged arts are specifically defined in this chapter and will be the language we use here, but other nomenclature is evolving across the sector (see our note earlier about outreach versus engagement). We recommend close attention be paid to whatever current parlance may be in place when you attempt this work. You, as learners, are also agents in this, and can take an active part in shaping these conversations by bringing a postcolonial lens to the work as the vanguard of social change.

Community-engaged arts has many manifestations and elements, and it’s optimal to identify and consider all potential aspects of what may be involved before beginning the work. Following a guide such as the one provided by the Ontario Arts Council (see the list of resources at the end of this chapter) or the prompts in a grant application template when seeking funding helps to overcome issues of tabula rasa when setting up a community arts project. Funders have seen many, many projects before, and have done some of the work for us, as they distill potential factors into their documentation. Look also at the budget templates provided by funders so as not to miss something that may not be obvious to you like insurance, delivering rented equipment back to suppliers or volunteer recognition.

Mental awareness is an integral aspect of the arts in which we engage. Don’t take this for granted, either as the facilitator or for the participants/learners. When working in community-engaged arts, focus on holding mental health at the forefront of envisioned programming. Consider how your own mental capacities for community-engaged practice and those of whom you engage as participants/learners are held prior to, during and post-engagement. Explore your own cultural competence before entering a community, and ideally make sure that the facilitators also explore cultural sensitivity training before going into a community-engaged arts practice.

To be clear, cultural sensitivity is not just about the cultural diversity of participants, but also equitable programming related to distinct ethno-racial communities. You don’t want to further traumatise participants/learners with programming because you didn’t think about ensuring it takes into account participants’ needs. Community-engaged programming has often historically excluded consideration of its impact on participants. As societies, particularly Canadian ones, become less homogenous, so too must programmers assume that participants/learners will have varied backgrounds and requirements. Charles C Smith (2017) articulates the following with the brevity of multiplicitous understandings:

“We are witnessing in the contemporary a broad range of hybrid ties that address intersectionality and active ‘becoming’ through awareness/discovery of one’s past and ‘Blood Memory,’ the connections to disjointed ancestry and the value of orality as a source of authority and education. One of the major arguments to be addressed is the way in which community-engaged arts still follow in Western values of homogenisation and hegemony versus the plurality of self-identification and creative expression.”

In thinking about where engagement occurs, consider the demographics, needs and realities of the participants/learners in their communities while offering them the plurality of creative expression which Smith suggests. This is not an easy proposition, but it is an achievable one which offers facilitators an opportunity to be reflexive and responsive in their approaches. The following section will explore one of the author’s experiences with developing community-engaged arts projects which respond to and incorporate community needs.