Art is a Tool

Yes, the arts is a tool.

We might not necessarily know (or care) what this tool of ours actually does, but for those of us involved in some way or another, we have a fair inkling that it is good for us and that we like it.

For the most part, I personally don’t think it really matters. I’m lucky, I rehearse with a dance company once a week, play guitar in my one room flat and crochet when I feel inspired to make something. I don’t question why I do it. I don’t have to. I enjoy it and that’s what I like to do. So why the broad statement… art is a tool? Because it is and I believe once we recognise this and acknowledge it, we can move on to something more interesting.

Too many people are reluctant to define what they mean when they talk about the arts. Which I think is a big shame. I was in a rural community where a distinction was made between the “really creative people in town” (the ones responsible for some amazing public art installations) who weren’t really artists because they weren’t into painting. I’ve also spoken to a public servant who was frustrated with the misconception of artists as those “absinthe drinking bohemians”. A teacher described to me the impression of the arts by primary school children as “that whoosy girly thing”. “What about music?” she asked them, which in the Perth original music scene is a male dominated domain. Oh, that’s different.

We don’t need to make judgments on what is good or bad art. We don’t even need to define artistic integrity, just what we mean when we use the word “art”, because this gives you clues to its purpose and the outcomes it might be responsible for.

Art for its own sake will never fall off the agenda. We need it, enjoy it and don’t feel the need to question it. But if art can be utilised for a purpose, if it has an application, use and advantage in other sectors, such as health, development, therapy and varying forms of rehabilitation in all settings from institutions to community, then doesn’t it deserve recognition?

Purpose and Definitions

How do you research the arts and social wellbeing in a rural community?

Well… first you have to define what you are talking about. I have gone for very broad and simple definitions as I was finding that other literature I was referring to was often very specific. Sometimes the author(s) would discount other forms of arts engagement or participation, or specify parameters, which in my opinion, does nothing for an understanding of how ART as opposed to any other activity impacts on wellbeing.

So for the definitions:

What is Art?

I’m calling art the product of creative expression and it includes the performing arts (such as dance, theatre, and music), the visual arts and craft, and the literary arts. I was also thinking of including multimedia arts, but I figured in some ways they would overlap performing, visual and literary. In whatever form or medium it comes, it is still a product of creative expression.

What is Social Wellbeing?

I’m calling it the social fabric of a community. So it includes things like belonging, trust, reciprocity, identity and place.

What is a rural community?

This can be tricky. It’s definitely located outside of the designated metropolitan areas of Australia’s capital cities. It is also a community that is based on primary industries such as agriculture, mining, pastoral, fisheries, etc. Defining something as rural, as opposed to regional, also implies a certain degree of remoteness, low population density and size, and low proportion of residents in an urban environment.

Once you’ve defined everything, you have to decide how you are going to measure it. Now this should follow on quite logically because how you understand the concepts that you want to research will determine how you measure it. So the research will take place in rural communities for all types of arts engagement. Sounds simple enough?

The hard part is the social wellbeing. So rather than make up my own way of measuring a concept that’s hard to define and even harder to measure I’m looking at adapting a number of measures already used in a variety of fields. These include quality of life scales, life satisfaction and happiness measures, even social capital indicators.

The biggest criticism of previous research is that there is, quite simply, a lack of robust data and evidence. The difficulty in trying to quantity effects, impacts or outcomes and what these outcomes should be has also been criticised. It’s even questionable as to whether we should be searching for an impact at all. Doesn’t this defeat the purpose of art for its own sake? Plus the methods of data collection, including the choice of the sample and the purpose, intention and bias of the researchers themselves has all been called into question.

In my opinion the intrinsic benefits of the arts is the primary reason why I myself engage. I like it and it makes me feel good. But I also think that if we can understand a little better why we enjoy it, what it does for us and how it impacts on communities we have a chance of building a better case for why opportunities to engage in the arts should be accessible and available to everyone.

I interviewed the former CEO of a local government authority in regional Australia and I think he summed it up very well. So I wanted to finish this entry with his quote:

“in terms of arts outcomes they were here, but in community development outcomes they were way up here. That was always one of the challenges; it was almost like a metaphor for something else. It wasn’t about what people were doing; it was about the effect of having them doing that on community spirit and cooperation and all those other kinds of things. That was something we found extraordinarily difficult to get through to the funding providers. They say ‘well, we don’t want to fund a festival,’ well you’re not funding a festival, you’re funding a community building activity that turned what could have been a war zone into a community. It was difficult trying to make that connection with some of the funding organisations, because I think the arts are undervalued as a tool for people learning other things. Because you cooperated on an arts project you’ve got the relationship where you can cooperate on other things too.”

A Short Introduction

The Arts and Social Wellbeing in Rural Western Australia

Henry Lawson, Banjo Paterson and Frederick McCubbin have all been pivotal in shaping Australian cultural identity as firmly rooted in rural Australia. However many commentators are suggesting that rural Australia is in crisis and suffering from decline. This disadvantage is evident with respect to standards of health, infrastructure, employment and education.

For my research, I wanted to test the premise that the arts play a crucial role in promoting social wellbeing and that the arts contribute to the revitalisation of declining economies through tourism, income generation, and employment.

You can find many reports stating the benefits of the arts. Including that the arts are used as a form of communication, to question norms, express ideas and strengthen social bonds. The arts contribute to rural revitalisation, and thus social wellbeing: directly through economic opportunities, and; indirectly by enhancing participation and creativity in public decision-making, strengthening community capacity, and strengthening identity and sense of place. However this is not to deny that people are often not drawn to the arts for their instrumental effects, but because of the meaning, pleasure and emotional stimulation that they provide and that these intrinsic effects are satisfying in themselves (McCarthy et al., 2004).

So what’s the problem then? Well it all comes down to a lack of hard data. Research is usually conducted by arts funding bodies (yes - potential conflict of interest there!). Otherwise it is left to the organizations themselves, largely not-for-profit, community-based, and heavily reliant on volunteers who don’t necessarily have the time or resources to carry out research.

In recognition of this dearth of data a few agencies, organizations and educational institutions in Australia are starting to do something about it. Including the support of my research http://www.segs.uwa.edu.au/pgweb?displaytype=Student_info&id=735

I wanted to start this blog to not only help clarify a few things in my own mind, but to provide myself with an outlet for this information so it doesn’t just sit on a shelf in some university library with no one to read it. I hope you enjoy it.