Community arts

Community Arts

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Introduction
What is community art?

Introduction

Auckland City Council is committed to developing Auckland city as a vibrant arts and cultural centre that offers attractive lifestyle choices as diverse as the people who choose to live, work and play here.

Our aim is to create opportunities for Auckland city residents and communities to participate in an abundance of arts and cultural activities that allow us to celebrate who we are and foster a sense of pride and belonging.

Participation in the arts is not just the work created by professional artists - it includes all forms of creative expression and it can happen anywhere from the central CBD through to the suburbs. The important thing about creative expression is that it allows us to explore who we are and what matters to us. Find out more about the variety of projects taking place in your suburb and about community arts.

If you are under 21, you need to know about RAW Youth Arts. RAW is Auckland City Councils arts projects that are specifically designed by and for young people. RAW stands for the RAW energy, RAW talent, RAW creativity and RAW materials we use to make artworks and performances.

Plus... RAW arts projects are always 100 per cent free!

What is community art?

Friendly Girls Society - Creative
Communities fund May 2007

In considering the myriad of mediums that are available to artists when making art, it is also worth remembering that that there are just as many places where we can make art. And that our skills do not only have to be housed in the city's gallery's, museums, in our studios or in the homes of those who can afford to purchase our labour.

Our skills translate into many other areas of work, and if you are interested in using your skills to make art alongside others, in non traditional art venues or in making art that challenges cultural themes about what is good or bad, right or wrong, then working as a community artist may be the career path for you.

So what is this thing called community arts? Well it is not an art form in the way that you might define yourself as a ceramicist or film maker as such, but is probably better understood as an arts practice. Community artists work alongside communities so that they can explore themes such as identity, shared concerns and aspirations. As a result, the artist focuses much of their energy on the process of artistic expression, rather than on the creation of a finished product.

The communities that an artist might work with can also vary. You might find yourself working with a community that defines itself by shared cultural beliefs (eg the Tamil community), or a community that identifies itself by where it lives (eg the community of Mt Wellington). They might share a common characteristic (eg they might all have recently had their first child) or be of a certain age (eg they may all be senior citizens).

However, in the same way that you as an artist might define your practice by a set of beliefs, (eg you might see yourself as a postmodernist or an impressionist), community artists would most likely find themselves aligned to human right theories. This means that they believe that:

making art is a universal human behaviour;
that everyone should have the right make art that speaks to them about what matters to them in their lives;
that communities should have the right to create and manage projects in which they participate; and
that making art develops their potential as a human being.

Community artists use all manner of art mediums in their work. Choosing the right medium for the job is often developed specifically for each project, depending on who you might be working with. It can include using the latest new media or exploring the traditional cultural activities of people from any background.

Activities tend to be identified as community art activities if they feature at least some of the following aspects:

community members and artists working together on an art project rather than as passive audience members. The role of the artist in this process is to provide their expertise through facilitating the cultural activities, which the community wants to undertake.
community culture being expressed, explored, interpreted, presented or developed.
community members gaining new skills and being exposed to new challenges - and that through this process something changes for the community members. This is often referred to as building a community's capacity.¹

During 2007, Auckland City Council has been actively encouraging the development of community art projects in the city for the following reasons:

it recognises that as the first city of the Pacific, we are one of the most diverse communities on the planet. Over 180 different ethnicities call Auckland home and as such our city should reflect their cultural contributions.
Auckland City Council is committed to the continuing development of strong, healthy and vibrant communities. We know that a communities capacity is developed if they feel they are in control of decisions that affect them. We also know that if your society is an art making society then it is more likely to survive than a society where art is not encouraged. If Auckland is going to reach its goal of being seen as an international city with a soul, then art and cultural activities must play a vital role in making this happen.

With these goals in mind, Auckland City Council is currently developing the following projects in collaboration with some of our communities:

a theatre show with young people living in Wesley. The show will explore themes that are of interest to the young people who participate in the project
the development of a circus troupe with young people living in Riverside
the creation of a visual art project with the Glenn Innes community that revolves around flora and fauna specific to local parklands
the creation of a mural with the Avondale community
an intergenerational oral history/ digital media project with the Otahuhu community

Auckland City Council also administers the funding source Creative Communities, on behalf of Creative New Zealand. All Auckland residents can apply to this fund if they have an idea for a community arts project and they have the support of the community to undertake the project. There are two contestable grant rounds a year, and in the most recent round we funded:

creation of short films by Serbian young people that will express what it's like to be young and Serbian living in Auckland
the development of first readings and work shopping of new scripts produced by newly arrived Asian play wrights
an exhibition of ethnic art to be exhibited at Artstation
the production of a photographic exhibition of recently emerged photography students, who will work alongside young people to create a joint exhibition of their works.
the development of a theatre show that explores pacific island culture, and
storytelling workshops with young people on Waiheke Island

There is no limit to the art forms, communities and issues that this work can encompass, the only limit is your imagination.

1 - .ccd.net/resources/guide/glosary/glossary1.html

Published March 2008