LITERATURE REVIEW

EXPLORING COMMUNITY BASED ARTS DEVELOPMENT: AS A TOOL FOR

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT.

This thesis explores how community based arts as a tool for community development.

Exploring how and for what purpose community based arts organisations can create

social capital and to provide insight on how the arts sector can be a leader in the

transformation of Cork county communities and regions around Ireland and the globe.

The perspectives of artists, community development practitioners sponsors and

beneficiaries of the arts provided insight on how and in what ways the arts can evoke

change by building connections and inspiring participation.

Abstract

The Lords mayor’s message:

‘’The Arts & Cultural Strategy for Cork City Council 2011 – 2015 is a statement of

intent. It outlines our policies and strategies as we develop the services and facilities

available to all of our citizens’’(Lord Mayor Cllr. Michael O’Connell,2015 p1)

The Arts play a major role as an economic engine to promote local and regional

development.

Research shows that the presence of creative arts in the raise the quality of

community life and there is a growing evidence that communities with high quality of life

will prosper in the global economy. Arts development can also be important in renovating

aging neighbourhood. Providing tenants for vacant store fronts and promote tourism.

City of Cork and their alliance and the Arts alliance Ireland now give special

recognition to communities with innovative programmes to promote the Arts in

community development effort. Cork City Arts development uses a variety of incentive

such as artists in residence, tax incentives, building renovations of Artists of and

rehabilitation incentives, ,tax exemptions, to attract critical clusters of creative arts

practitioners and arts related business

Community plus Development

Community development combines the idea of “community” with “development”.

We discussed earlier the concept of community – a group of people with a shared

identity. Hence, community development relies on interaction between people and

joint action, rather than individual activity – what some sociologists call “collective

agency” (Flora and Flora, 1993).

“Development” is a process that increases choices. It means new options, diversification,

thinking about apparent issues differently and anticipating change

(Christenson et.al.,1989). Development involves change, improvement and vitality –

a directed attempt to improve participation, flexibility, equity, attitudes, the function of

institutions and the quality of life. It is the creation of wealth – wealth meaning the things

people value, not just dollars (Shaffer, 1989). It leads to a net addition to community

assets, avoiding the “zero sum” situation where a job created “here”, is a Job lost

“there”.

Community plus Development

Community development combines the idea of “community” with “development”.

We discussed earlier the concept of community – a group of people with a shared

identity. Hence, community development relies on interaction between people and

joint action, rather than individual activity – what some sociologists call “collective

agency” (Flora and Flora, 1993).

“Development” is a process that increases choices. It means new options,

diversification, thinking about apparent issues differently and anticipating change

(Christenson et.al., 1989). Development involves change, improvement and vitality – a

directed attempt to improve participation, flexibility, equity, attitudes, the function of

institutions and the quality of life.It is the creation of wealth – wealth meaning the things

people value, not just dollars (Shaffer, 1989).

It leads to a net addition to community assets, avoiding the “zero sum” situation where a

job created “here”, is a job lost “.

Putting the two terms together – community development – means that a community

itself engages in a process aimed at improving the social, economic and environmental

situation of the community. The community is both the means and the end of community

development.

The community itself takes action and participates together. It is through this action that

the community becomes more vital, not just economically but as a strong functioning

community in itself.

Definitions

The key elements of community development are expressed to varying degrees in

many definitions. Some key descriptions are as follows:

· For community development to occur, people in a community must believe

working together can make a difference and organise to address their shared needs

collectively – Flora et. al. (1992).

· Community development is a group of people in a community reaching a decision

to initiate a social action process to change their economic, social, cultural and

environmental situation – Christenson et. al. (1989).

· Community development is a process that increases choices. It creates an

environment where people can exercise their full potential to lead productive,

creative lives. – Ron Shaffer (pers. com.).

· Community development is a process where people are united with those of

governmental authorities to improve the economic, social and cultural conditions

of communities and communities are integrated into the life of the nation enabling

them to contribute fully to national progress. – (United Nations, from Biggs,

1999)

· Community capacity is the combined influence of a community’s commitment,

resources and skills that can be deployed to build on community strengths and

address community problems and opportunities – (Aspen Institute, 2000).

· Community vitality is the capacity of the local socio-economic system to survive

and persist in generating employment, income, and wealth and to maintain if not

improve its relative economic position. – Shaffer (1989).

· Community economic development is about identifying and harnessing local

community resources and opportunities and stimulating sustainable economic and

employment activity – Kenyon (1994).

· Sanders (1958) saw community development as a process moving from stage to

stage; a method of working towards a goal; a program of procedures and as a

movement sweeping people up in emotion and belief.

expressions by those resisting dominant culture. Therefore, they opened the door for the

community to gain perspective of the culture of existence that appeared at odds with the

dominant society. The arts are a natural fit for communicating ideas and evoking

interaction. If exchanges between the groups continue in what Hustedde (1998) referred

to as an open space for story-telling, the differing groups can build solidarity and uncover

the soul of the community as envisioned in On the Soul of Community Development.

Definitions

The key elements of community development are expressed to varying degrees in

many definitions. Some key descriptions are as follows:

· For community development to occur, people in a community must believe

working together can make a difference and organise to address their shared needs

collectively – Flora et. al. (1992).

· Community development is a group of people in a community reaching a decision

to initiate a social action process to change their economic, social, cultural and

environmental situation – Christenson et. al. (1989).

· Community development is a process that increases choices. It creates an

environment where people can exercise their full potential to lead productive,

creative lives. – Ron Shaffer (pers. com.).

· Community development is a process where people are united with those of

governmental authorities to improve the economic, social and cultural conditions

of communities and communities are integrated into the life of the nation enabling

them to contribute fully to national progress. – (United Nations, from Biggs, 1999)

· Community capacity is the combined influence of a community’s commitment,

resources and skills that can be deployed to build on community strengths and

address community problems and opportunities – (Aspen Institute, 2000).

· Community vitality is the capacity of the local socio-economic system to survive

and persist in generating employment, income, and wealth and to maintain if not

improve its relative economic position. – Shaffer (1989).

· Community economic development is about identifying and harnessing local

community resources and opportunities and stimulating sustainable economic and

employment activity – Kenyon (1994).

· Sanders (1958) saw community development as a process moving from stage to

stage; a method of working towards a goal; a program of procedures and as a

movement sweeping people up in emotion and belief.

Development, not just growth

Regardless of the definition, community development is not just “growth”. Growth

means more jobs and more investment but implies “more of the same”. It does not

necessarily increase choices, networks or ability to manage change.

Development can also sometimes mean “less”, fewer people in a community, or the

loss of a manufacturing plant for example could improve the circumstances of what

people value in the community. Development can occur without growth and growth

can occur without development.

Clarifying Terms

Community development often is associated with terms such as community capacity

building, community vitality, empowerment, rural development or self-reliance. The

basic elements of collective action, ownership and improved circumstances are

common to all these ideas. There may be slight differences in emphasis. For

example, while community capacity building focuses on enhancing the assets and

abilities of the community, the term is essentially synonymous with community

development.

The debate increases over the distinction between community development and

economic development. Community Development or Economic Development?

Economic development is part of community development. Local industry

development involves facilitation of relatively small groups of industry people

addressing specific issues, such as discussion groups or market alliances. This is part

of economic development.

Economic development involves many of the elements of community development,

such as participation, rethinking, action learning etc. However, it specifically aims to

improve the relative economic position of the community. Flora et. al. (1992) argues

that it does not necessarily lead to improved quality of life nor involve “collective

agency”. Economic development largely aims to improve employment, income and

the economic base of the community.

How the Arts and Development linked

However, in all of this there is no mention of Initial investigations of grassroots arts

activities for this study note the following impacts:

According to Research undertaken by the Third Sector Research Centre (McCabe,

Phillimore and Mayblin: 2010) identified the lack of knowledge about the impact of

amateur or grassroots

arts activity on individuals and communities. This report sets out the findings of a scoping

study which assessed the learning about the impacts of the amateur arts from the academic

and grey literature across a range of disciplines. It also includes a brief discussion of

findings from a day conference held with amateur arts organisations in October 2011.

However rsearch has documented the growing impotance of access in arts nd

intertainment in the community.

What are Arts

Social and health impacts of Arts activities

The term ‘Arts’ as used in this paper refers to the interactive activity that require a

combination of highly creative thinking and technical skills. Included are the

traditional art, music, dance, stage and literary skills but also include a range of artistic

and craft activities that includes a variety of of innovative artistic, performance, visual,

and fibre(for example, needle work)

Participation in arts activities has been shown to have a number of beneficial effects:

For an individual’s personal development:

enhanced health and wellbeing; i ncreased self esteem and self confidence; i mproved

communication and social skills; development of leadership skills.

For groups:

Furthermore participation develops social networks contributing to: a sense of identity and

belonging; social capital, social and community cohesion; increased intergenerational

contact; for migrant groups the opportunity to maintain links to their country and culture of

origin in addition to developing hybrid traditions and customs occurring as part of a

process of living in the host country; improved community image and identity, with

increased visibility within a town or even country. This in turn can contribute to a sense

of pride for residents; increased desirability of an area.

Educational impact

There is evidence that participation in arts activities: develops learning performance in

formal settings with participants demonstrating an increase in literacy, verbal and

communication skills;

Leads to the development and creation of knowledge and technical skills specific to

activities and also to transferable skills in other fields and potentially employment; can

contribute to understandings of contemporary issues which may be related, but

tangential, to the art form itself that emerge from discussion and debate within their

specific field or arts group; develops an awareness of the international scope of the

specific field, leading to the building of international social networks and sometimes to

travel abroad, extending participants’ experience of other cultures and customs; develops

literacy skills among those who are outside of formal learning settings;

develop opinions and skills in argument and debate.

Economic impact

Grassroots arts activities generate a considerable amount of economic activity and value in

a number of ways: unpaid labour of participants and volunteers in the activities; purchase

of materials and equipment – nationally and locally; donated goods and services; revenue

from membership subscriptions to groups and organisations; revenue from advertising in

magazines and newsletters; revenue for local and

regional services and organisations where meetings, exhibitions, classes and festivals are

held (such as church, village and community halls); revenue from fundraising through an

arts activity for other charitable purposes including international causes beyond the

immediate community;

The arts’ role in community activism

Community based based arts organisations have merged art and activism around

specific core areas including disability,traveller community rights agender and more

They used the arts to engage members of communities by bringing about

concern for individuals who saw themselves as marginalised. Through the use of the arts

for identification, representation, and education, opposing groups can start the process of

building solidarity and practicing agency, thus influencing social capital. As Rogers

(2005) described social capital includes trust, collaboration, the enhancement of networks,

and the fostering of lifelong learning. When cultural resistance can engender conversations

among differing groups, which includes the idea of coming together for change, then it sits

in line with community development theory.

Purcell’s work was concerned with empowerment and activism. He examined ways to

give power to individuals so they can recognize community issues and represent those

realities in order to confront them. In Images for Change: community development,

Community arts and photography, Purcell (2009) relied on Paulo Freire (1970), who

wrote Pedagogy of the Oppressed, for a theoretical framework supporting the notion of

community development as community empowerment. Using the art form of

photography, Purcell advocated critical reflection through representation of community

issues. Such reflection opens the door for action for Purcell, who argued that “it is

becoming clear that community use of photography can be used to give voice to, and

make visible, otherwise hidden groups and community-based issues” (p. 112).

Cameron (2007) made no mention of cultural resistance in his article, but his exploration

of Disability Arts showed how the movement, which started in the 1980’s created a space

for solidarity among disabled individuals and aided the practice of agency for community

activism regarding discrimination towards disabled persons. According to Cameron,

when disabled people engaged Disability Arts, their self-perspective and understanding

of world changed. “To begin to understand that the negative experiences you thought

were yours alone, are shared and felt and understood by others and to begin to understand

that it is not you, but the social environments around you that need to change is a powerful a wakening” (p. 505). Disability Arts cultivated participation followed by

agency as it transformed the misconception of the disabled from assuming that the

problem was theirs alone through education. Arts as communication, as Rogers

suggested, is a powerful tool for community development. As the disabled artists

engaged the arts for production, they articulated and educated the community about

societal problems that would otherwise go unnoticed. Once attention was brought to the

barriers society constructed for the disabled, the community could look for solutions

together after establishing trusting relationships through conversations that Disabled Arts inspired.

Another example of the arts role in community activism and engagement was the use the

arts to engage members of communities by bringing about concern for individuals who

saw themselves as marginalised. Through the use of the arts for

identification, representation, and education, opposing groups can start the process of

building solidarity and practicing agency, thus influencing social capital. As Rogers

(2005) described social capital includes trust, collaboration, the enhancement of networks,

and the fostering of lifelong learning. When cultural resistance can engender conversations

among differing groups, which includes the idea of coming together for change, which is

this underpined by community development theory.

Empowering people for solidarity and agency

Example,Partnership between Travellers and settled people to challenge inequalities

and to bring about positive change for the Traveller community.

For Stephenson (2007) civic engagement and social learning were important for

solidarity and agency and contribute to community progress. His article highlighted an

initiative mixing the arts and social learning through a grassroots leadership program

using the arts for civic dialogue. Like Clover (2007), Stephenson saw a need for cultural

identification and consciousness-raising to create an environment where transformation is

possible. Hustedde (1998) spoke of the importance of creating solidarity before engaging

action for a well-balanced approach to community development in On the Soul of

Community Development.

The challenge of engaging community members according to Stephenson was that people

sometimes suffer from a lack of efficacy. The arts-based leadership program Stephenson

described attempted to empower local artists who represent groups commonly excluded

From community development. Charged with the mission to create their own arts project

surrounding community issues, the artists used their social networks to ignite the

conversation and brainstorm possible solutions. The goal of the program was for the

The arts are tools for empowering individuals, inspiring creativity, and communicating

Background History of Arts Development and Community Development in Cork.

11
In the 1950’s Tóstal, a series of national festival celebrations, supported the

development of some of the key festivals of the city, such as the Cork International

Choral Festival and the Cork Film Festival. The Jazz Festival, established in the 1980’s

and the Cork Midsummer Festival in the 1990’s are among the many and varied

festivals now celebrated in the city. From the 1980’s into the early 2000’s there was

sustained growth in the cultural infrastructure of the city. Cork Opera House, the

Crawford Art Gallery, the Glucksman Gallery, the Cork Arts Theatre, the Everyman

Palace Theatre, the National Sculpture Factory, Jack Lynch House,

Wandesford Quay Gallery and Studios, the Guest House, the Munster Literature Centre,

St. Luke’s and Christchurch have all either been refurbished or created, specifically for

cultural provision. This has combined with a growing educational provision for the

creative sector, at university and vocational level. The city has a School of Music, a

School of Art & Design, a School of Music & Theatre and a Centre for Architectural

Education. These are but a few of the resources which focus on providing education for

the cultural sector. Recently Cork has gained more national and international recognition

as a vital and interesting place in which to live, work and visit. Designations such as

European Capital of Culture and the Top Ten Lonely Planet Places To Visit are a

testament to this. European Capital of Culture, Cork

2005, recognised the quality and capacity of the city’s cultural sector. Across the year

over one million people, seven times the city’s population, attended official Cork 2005

events as local and international audiences turned out to experience the Cork 2005

programme.

Enabling active engagement with the enlarged European Union and encouraging the

hosting of diverse cultural events in the city, the delivery of the Programme was achieved

through partnerships with the city’s festivals and existing cultural institutions, as well as

community and voluntary groups in Cork and large numbers of cultural practitioners

locally, nationally and internationally.Sustained investment into the arts, at all levels, is

delivering a mature and complex sector. Organisations and individual artists have

sustained their level of international partnership since 2005, continuing Cork’s tradition

of looking outwards and welcoming new ideas and people, new culture and art to our

city. There is a wealth of individual and collective creative acts which are contributing

to the vitality of the arts within the city. Our challenge is to manage our resources so that

this engaging mix of exhibition, performance and creation, is maintained and expanded.

References

Aspen Institute 1996 Measuring Community Capacity Building: A Workbook-in-Progress for Rural Communities. The Aspen Institute, Washington D.C..

Flora, C.B. and J.L. Flora. 1993. “Entrepreneurial Social Infrastructure: A Necessary
Ingredient.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences 539:
48-58.

Biggs, S. 1999 Community Capacity Building in Queensland: The Queensland
Government Service Delivery Project. Unpublished paper. Office of Rural
Communities, Brisbane, Queensland.

Clover, Darlene. (October 2007). Feminist aesthetic practice of community development: the case of Myths and Mirrors Community Arts. Community Development Journal, 42
(4), 512 - 522.

Commonwealth of Australia. 1996 State of the Environment Australia Report.
Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra.

Cameron, Colin. (2007). Whose Problem? Disability Narratives and Available Identities. Community Development Journal, 42(4), 501 -511.

Entergy Corporation 1992 Community Development Handbook: A Guide for
Facilitators, Community Leaders and Catalysts. Entergy Corporation, New Orleans
Louisiana.

Flora, C.B., Flora, J.L. Spears, J.D. and L.E. Swanson. 1992. Rural Communities:

Hustedde, J (1998) Journal of the Community Development Society Volume 29, Issue 2, 1998

Legacy and Change. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.

Kenyon, P. 1994 Ready Set Go: Action Manual for Community Economic
Development. Municipal Association of Victoria, Melbourne

McCabe, Phillimore and Mayblin: 2010

Municipal Association of Victoria, 1994 Four Case Studies in Rural Development.
Streetlife Video Series.

Images for Change: community development,Community arts and photography, Purcell (2009)

Rogers, Maureen. (April 2005). Social sustainability and the art of engagement - the small towns: big picture experience. Local Environment, 10 (2), 109 - 124

Sanders, I.T. 1958 Theories of Community Development. Rural Sociology 23(1): 1-12.

Shaffer, R. E. 1989 Community Economics. Economic Structure and Change in
Smaller Communities. Iowa State University Press, Ames, Iowa.

Further Reading

Christenson, J.A. and Robinson, J.W. (1989) Community Development in
Perspective. Iowa State University Press, Ames Iowa.

United Nations, from Biggs, (1999)

Kenyon, P. 1994 Ready Set Go: Action Manual for Community Economic
Development. Municipal Association of Victoria, Melbourne.

Phillips, C. 1992 Changing Communities: A Practical Guide for Rural People and

Community Leaders. Rural Health Project, Uniting Church of Australia, Melbourne

Purcell, Rod. (Jan 2009). Images for change: community development, community arts and photography. Community Development Journal, 44 (1), 111 112.