I don't think anyone born in Australia can quite grasp how big and comparatively empty our continent is compared to the rest of the world. More so for those of us born in Western Australia (WA) which is again less fertile, more isolated and less populated than the east coast of Australia.
I am sitting in a rural conference in Maribor, Slovenia. A place where only one third of the population live in towns of more than 10,000 inhabitants, the remainder in smaller towns and villages. But I have a suspicision that their experience of 'rural' is quite different to that we have in WA.
Despite so many people living in small towns, the country still has a population density of almost 100 people per square kilometre. Compare this to WA, which has around 70% of the state population living in the capital city of Perth. A look through the regions of WA reveals that the majority, again, live in regional city centres, not in the rural countryside. Furthermore, compared to Slovenia's population density of 100 people per square kilometre, WA only has 0.08 people per square kilometre.
Australia is big and it's siye is only made more vast by the few people that inhabit it. So considering both size and isolation of the population, how does this impact on AUstralian culture and the arts?
Keep in mind also that, with the exception of Indigenous culture and heritage, exisiting cultural traditions are extremely young compared to the monuments, icons and traditions of much of the rest of the World. As a nation, Australia is only a few hundred years old, yet the constant steady stream of migrants from all over the world has further disrupted the development of a unitied cultural tradition.
Less people, bigger spaces, fewer icons. Yet also greater diversity and freedom to create and invent our own traditions. Not binded by the past, not living in the shadows of a long or mighty history.
For me, this creates a nation with fewer hang ups, proud to be new and different, less formal, easy going and willing to give anything a go.
Australia is a blank canvas, reflecting and absorbing the cultures opf the world to create and define our own sense of self, our own art, our own tradition. Space is a big factor, we have lots of it, this is unique in itself. We have space to try, to experiment, to create. It's fertile ground in terms of culture and the arts, our wide open road.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Drowning in Nouns
How many ways can we possibly say, "we like it, and it's good for us in lots of ways that are good"?
One of the truly fascinating, and sometimes extremely frustrating, parts of this research is the number of different nouns available for me to use to say essentially the same thing in slightly different ways.
Not sure what I mean? The working title of my research when I first started this project was, 'the arts and social wellbeing of Australian rural communities'. Fairly straight forward? Well, yes. However, as with the term 'social capital', I'm getting the feeling that some people are a little over the term 'wellbeing' and prefer instead to use language like, 'resilience', 'inclusive' or 'engagement'. I was doing some reading today and was surprised to find the use of the noun 'community' also coming under some criticism.
A scan of some of my working titles for individual papers includes titles like: 'Determining the role/Measuring the impact/Finding a place for the arts and rural resilience/inclusion/revitalisation/inequity/empowerment'.
Yes, I do realise they are not all the same thing. But the amount of overlap is uncanny. That I can use the one project to generate a list of nouns like the ones above is quite a feat.
While it is useful to make distinctions between these terms, none of them has ever come out on top as the best name for all the applications/use/benefits/outcomes of the arts. I guess then I'm back to where I started.
When I think about the definition of wellbeing, at its most basic it refers to being well. Being well could easily encompass a huge array of nouns that all contribute to the betterment of both individuals and communities (or clusters of people who share a commonality, such as location, interests, etc.). To be socially well, we need to have a certain amount of understanding, tolerance and respect for each other. We also need to feel confident and empowered within ourselves in order to build individual resilience so that we can support each other to make our communities resilience.
I think I'll stick with my original title :)
One of the truly fascinating, and sometimes extremely frustrating, parts of this research is the number of different nouns available for me to use to say essentially the same thing in slightly different ways.
Not sure what I mean? The working title of my research when I first started this project was, 'the arts and social wellbeing of Australian rural communities'. Fairly straight forward? Well, yes. However, as with the term 'social capital', I'm getting the feeling that some people are a little over the term 'wellbeing' and prefer instead to use language like, 'resilience', 'inclusive' or 'engagement'. I was doing some reading today and was surprised to find the use of the noun 'community' also coming under some criticism.
A scan of some of my working titles for individual papers includes titles like: 'Determining the role/Measuring the impact/Finding a place for the arts and rural resilience/inclusion/revitalisation/inequity/empowerment'.
Yes, I do realise they are not all the same thing. But the amount of overlap is uncanny. That I can use the one project to generate a list of nouns like the ones above is quite a feat.
While it is useful to make distinctions between these terms, none of them has ever come out on top as the best name for all the applications/use/benefits/outcomes of the arts. I guess then I'm back to where I started.
When I think about the definition of wellbeing, at its most basic it refers to being well. Being well could easily encompass a huge array of nouns that all contribute to the betterment of both individuals and communities (or clusters of people who share a commonality, such as location, interests, etc.). To be socially well, we need to have a certain amount of understanding, tolerance and respect for each other. We also need to feel confident and empowered within ourselves in order to build individual resilience so that we can support each other to make our communities resilience.
I think I'll stick with my original title :)
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Australia racist?
I realise I am at risk of stating the obvious, but the experience of Indigenous Australians is very different, and quite far removed from the experience of non-indigenous Australians.
Non-indigenous rural Australians are concerned with maintaining or strengthening sense of community. They do not want the vitality or the viability of their town to be undermined. There seems to be an increased focus on stimulating economic diversity and growth in order to create a more vibrant community.
There is a strong focus on the quality of life that rural living provides. No one wants to leave because they enjoy the rural lifestyle, but they are concerned that fewer people are around, available, or willing to contribute and therefore their quality of life is threatened.
For Indigenous Australians, the threat IS the reality, when compared to their non-indigenous neighbours. I won't bore you with statistics, as these are the obvious, quantifiable signs of inequity. So I'm not here to argue that Indigenous Australians are disadvantaged, this is already a given, I just wanted to point out how this inequity has shown itself in my research.
As I've already mentioned, non-indigenous Australians lament the loss of population because this has meant that there are fewer people to provide services, events and activities for the community than there was before. Rural towns are considered lucky if they can still manage to get enough players for one football team, others are happy that at least the tennis is still going... even though they only play socially now. This is not to mention the contribution of service clubs, charity organisations, action groups, or other community groups. Rural Australia must have been an extremely vibrant place to live when all of these activities were at their peak.
However, even in its hey-day, this experience was NOT the experience of rural Indigenous people. Indigenous Australians were confined to reserves or sent to missions. They now live in established towns or in Indigenous Communities (which are still not recognised as town sites in their own right, despite the presence of schools and other community facilities). The past treatment and injustices experienced by Indigenous Australians has carried on over several generations through drug and alcohol abuse, social problems and racism.
Non-indigenous rural Australians are using the arts in economic development, as a buffer for the changing economic and social make-up of their communities, and to facilitate and make the best use of existing social networks.
Indigenous Australians are using the arts to deal with trauma and address social problems, to reconnect with their culture, re-establish a sense of place and forge a common identity.
I spoke to an Indigenous elder who told me that "Australia is racist":
"Having ATSIC, the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, the fact that having a Department of Aboriginal Affairs proves that Australia is racist. If we’re all Australians we shouldn’t have one department for one mob. Community welfare means community welfare, community health means community health. There should be no need for Aboriginal Medical Service. It's there because somebody missed out on doing their job. So it’s a two-way thing, the white fella getting lazy and he's racist. So, you have an Aboriginal Legal Service (we shouldn’t), because the ordinary legal service isn’t doing its job... So Australia is built on racism. If we’re all equal, well we be equal."
When I started this research, I wouldn't have thought that the issues could have been so "black and white", but they are. I made a concerted effort to make sure I got an Indigenous perspective on this research, but it wasn't as easy as arranging interviews with non-indigenous representatives. I needed to be flexible with both my time and my approach. I needed to listen to the experience of others. I needed to be extremely conscious of establishing mutual respect and trust, so assumptions weren't made about MY intentions.
Inequity, experienced in any aspect (race, gender, etc.), can be addressed as long as it is first recognised and then ACTIVELY examined. You must be fully aware that relying on previous experience may in fact be perpetuating inequity, therefore you must recognise existing prejudices (including your own), be prepared to be unprepared, in other words, be flexible and keep an open mind.
Non-indigenous rural Australians are concerned with maintaining or strengthening sense of community. They do not want the vitality or the viability of their town to be undermined. There seems to be an increased focus on stimulating economic diversity and growth in order to create a more vibrant community.
There is a strong focus on the quality of life that rural living provides. No one wants to leave because they enjoy the rural lifestyle, but they are concerned that fewer people are around, available, or willing to contribute and therefore their quality of life is threatened.
For Indigenous Australians, the threat IS the reality, when compared to their non-indigenous neighbours. I won't bore you with statistics, as these are the obvious, quantifiable signs of inequity. So I'm not here to argue that Indigenous Australians are disadvantaged, this is already a given, I just wanted to point out how this inequity has shown itself in my research.
As I've already mentioned, non-indigenous Australians lament the loss of population because this has meant that there are fewer people to provide services, events and activities for the community than there was before. Rural towns are considered lucky if they can still manage to get enough players for one football team, others are happy that at least the tennis is still going... even though they only play socially now. This is not to mention the contribution of service clubs, charity organisations, action groups, or other community groups. Rural Australia must have been an extremely vibrant place to live when all of these activities were at their peak.
However, even in its hey-day, this experience was NOT the experience of rural Indigenous people. Indigenous Australians were confined to reserves or sent to missions. They now live in established towns or in Indigenous Communities (which are still not recognised as town sites in their own right, despite the presence of schools and other community facilities). The past treatment and injustices experienced by Indigenous Australians has carried on over several generations through drug and alcohol abuse, social problems and racism.
Non-indigenous rural Australians are using the arts in economic development, as a buffer for the changing economic and social make-up of their communities, and to facilitate and make the best use of existing social networks.
Indigenous Australians are using the arts to deal with trauma and address social problems, to reconnect with their culture, re-establish a sense of place and forge a common identity.
I spoke to an Indigenous elder who told me that "Australia is racist":
"Having ATSIC, the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, the fact that having a Department of Aboriginal Affairs proves that Australia is racist. If we’re all Australians we shouldn’t have one department for one mob. Community welfare means community welfare, community health means community health. There should be no need for Aboriginal Medical Service. It's there because somebody missed out on doing their job. So it’s a two-way thing, the white fella getting lazy and he's racist. So, you have an Aboriginal Legal Service (we shouldn’t), because the ordinary legal service isn’t doing its job... So Australia is built on racism. If we’re all equal, well we be equal."
When I started this research, I wouldn't have thought that the issues could have been so "black and white", but they are. I made a concerted effort to make sure I got an Indigenous perspective on this research, but it wasn't as easy as arranging interviews with non-indigenous representatives. I needed to be flexible with both my time and my approach. I needed to listen to the experience of others. I needed to be extremely conscious of establishing mutual respect and trust, so assumptions weren't made about MY intentions.
Inequity, experienced in any aspect (race, gender, etc.), can be addressed as long as it is first recognised and then ACTIVELY examined. You must be fully aware that relying on previous experience may in fact be perpetuating inequity, therefore you must recognise existing prejudices (including your own), be prepared to be unprepared, in other words, be flexible and keep an open mind.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Blokes & the Arts
More recently I have been looking a little more closely at gender differences and the arts. This has been mostly because I was only finding women to talk to. But also because it has come up in a few casual conversations. Particularly in reference to arts and community centres that, while successful for the community, have been underutilised by men.
No surprise that women are more likely to form the arts & craft groups, whereas men are more likely engage in the arts as a solo pursuit. It's interesting though, that in general contemporary music programs have to create initiatives to try and increase female participation, as men tend to dominate the local music industry.
You just have to look at the gender balance at events like the Meekatharra Battle of the Bands. I saw only two women perform on that first day, and they were both soloists. As far as reaching priority target groups within the community, the competition was completely dominated by indigenous males.
There are other areas of the arts, in addition to contemporary music, where blokes tend to get more involved:
1. Graff art or street art.
That is, using spray cans to paint on walls/canvas/skateboards/etc. This also ties in nicely with hip hop, breakdance & rap (modern day storytelling!). So not only do you engage boys in a form of visual art there is the bonus of the performing arts of dance and music.
2. Manual arts (metal work, wood work, sculpture generally, etc.)
This would also include things like emu egg carving and the making artefacts, such as spears, weapons, and other fantastic creations.
3. Movie making and digital arts (film, video, animation, graffic design, etc.)
This can involve set building and acting, or better still, stunts & special effects!
In my experience, think big and loud, plenty of action thrown in with the use of gadgets, tools, or machinery and you won't have any problem engaging blokes in the arts :)
No surprise that women are more likely to form the arts & craft groups, whereas men are more likely engage in the arts as a solo pursuit. It's interesting though, that in general contemporary music programs have to create initiatives to try and increase female participation, as men tend to dominate the local music industry.
You just have to look at the gender balance at events like the Meekatharra Battle of the Bands. I saw only two women perform on that first day, and they were both soloists. As far as reaching priority target groups within the community, the competition was completely dominated by indigenous males.
There are other areas of the arts, in addition to contemporary music, where blokes tend to get more involved:
1. Graff art or street art.
That is, using spray cans to paint on walls/canvas/skateboards/etc. This also ties in nicely with hip hop, breakdance & rap (modern day storytelling!). So not only do you engage boys in a form of visual art there is the bonus of the performing arts of dance and music.
2. Manual arts (metal work, wood work, sculpture generally, etc.)
This would also include things like emu egg carving and the making artefacts, such as spears, weapons, and other fantastic creations.
3. Movie making and digital arts (film, video, animation, graffic design, etc.)
This can involve set building and acting, or better still, stunts & special effects!
In my experience, think big and loud, plenty of action thrown in with the use of gadgets, tools, or machinery and you won't have any problem engaging blokes in the arts :)
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
When it comes...
We go!
I’ve been toying with the idea of exploring the phenomena of rural residents who attend arts events, and other activities in their town, not because they think they will enjoy it, but out of a sense of obligation that if they don’t go, their town will miss out next time.
Sounds like a great idea for a paper, but I’ve been having trouble trying to get some references together – maybe there just isn’t any out there? Please someone, prove me wrong!
I’ve had an audience survey go out over the past year with performing arts shows that have been touring regional Western Australia. The statistics on their own haven’t told me anything too profound as yet. It was mostly to get some numbers on who was going and what else they got up to, because so few statistics specifically on regional arts attendance exists. The most fascinating part of the survey was the comments at the end.
My impressions so far are that some of the respondents of my survey will support touring shows because they want to support their local community, they want to show their support to the organisers (who are invariably local), and out of a sense of obligation to show their support to the performers who made the effort to visit in the first place.
Comments such as the following really bring this point home:
“Though we originally intended with the viewpoint of making up the numbers, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!”
On a similar vein, many respondents implied that their attendance at the current event ensured that future events would also tour to their town:
“To ensure good attendance, so that future events are held here”
“Because it was available locally and it’s important to support so as we get more”
So are regional audiences more committed arts attendees than metropolitan audiences? From the responses I received, it would appear so. This was suggested by a few respondents who commented that they “would attend good quality performances locally, exceptional in Perth”. It was also suggested that because there are fewer channels of communication in small towns, local residents were more likely to know what was going on and therefore they would attend:
“If this was in Perth it would be harder to get to and most likely (I) wouldn’t hear about it.”
Fascinating stuff.
I’m distributing a household survey to the focus region for my research within the next few months or so, so it will be interesting to see how the responses compare to the audience survey.
Only 18 months on the PhD to go!
I’ve been toying with the idea of exploring the phenomena of rural residents who attend arts events, and other activities in their town, not because they think they will enjoy it, but out of a sense of obligation that if they don’t go, their town will miss out next time.
Sounds like a great idea for a paper, but I’ve been having trouble trying to get some references together – maybe there just isn’t any out there? Please someone, prove me wrong!
I’ve had an audience survey go out over the past year with performing arts shows that have been touring regional Western Australia. The statistics on their own haven’t told me anything too profound as yet. It was mostly to get some numbers on who was going and what else they got up to, because so few statistics specifically on regional arts attendance exists. The most fascinating part of the survey was the comments at the end.
My impressions so far are that some of the respondents of my survey will support touring shows because they want to support their local community, they want to show their support to the organisers (who are invariably local), and out of a sense of obligation to show their support to the performers who made the effort to visit in the first place.
Comments such as the following really bring this point home:
“Though we originally intended with the viewpoint of making up the numbers, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!”
On a similar vein, many respondents implied that their attendance at the current event ensured that future events would also tour to their town:
“To ensure good attendance, so that future events are held here”
“Because it was available locally and it’s important to support so as we get more”
So are regional audiences more committed arts attendees than metropolitan audiences? From the responses I received, it would appear so. This was suggested by a few respondents who commented that they “would attend good quality performances locally, exceptional in Perth”. It was also suggested that because there are fewer channels of communication in small towns, local residents were more likely to know what was going on and therefore they would attend:
“If this was in Perth it would be harder to get to and most likely (I) wouldn’t hear about it.”
Fascinating stuff.
I’m distributing a household survey to the focus region for my research within the next few months or so, so it will be interesting to see how the responses compare to the audience survey.
Only 18 months on the PhD to go!
Monday, December 15, 2008
Arts Steps
Steps to Developing Communities through the Arts
1. Your vision might not be anyone else’s vision.
Not all communities are the same. Communities are unique and diverse, just like people. You might have great visions of what happened in the last community you were in, or want to try to replicate something that ‘went off’ somewhere else. But these ideas might be far from what the community itself wants. Keep your own ambitions broad and flexible. Focus on making a difference for that particular community, rather than what you would like to see happen.
2. Never assume that anyone actually knows what they want, or that they know how to articulate it (even you!).
People can’t ask for something they know nothing about or have never experienced before. On similar lines, engagement in the arts may feel good and you enjoy doing it, but try to explaining to someone why you like listening to music, what made you hang that particular print in your lounge room, or why you never missed a social dance event at the local RSL club. Sometimes it’s easier to just do it, rather than try to explain it. You can also try using examples, go on outings to see what other people are doing, or try new things on a small scale to give the community a taste of what is possible.
3. Plant seeds of ideas and assist them to grow, develop and evolve, rather than imposing your plan on the community.
Not imposing your vision or plan on the community does not mean you sit back and wait for them to tell you what they want. Think of your role as a facilitator, the ideas person, providing inspiration, motivation and logistics. Once people know they want something, and have confident in their ability to achieve it, then anything is possible.
4. Big visions, small steps.
There is no harm in thinking big. The most ambitious of projects, ideas and outcomes are achievable, and it’s great to have longer term goals. However, failure to achieve big visions can be extremely disheartening and may even result in the current situation being worse than when you started. Think big, but start off slow and work on short term easy-to-achieve goals as you work towards your utopian community dream.
1. Your vision might not be anyone else’s vision.
Not all communities are the same. Communities are unique and diverse, just like people. You might have great visions of what happened in the last community you were in, or want to try to replicate something that ‘went off’ somewhere else. But these ideas might be far from what the community itself wants. Keep your own ambitions broad and flexible. Focus on making a difference for that particular community, rather than what you would like to see happen.
2. Never assume that anyone actually knows what they want, or that they know how to articulate it (even you!).
People can’t ask for something they know nothing about or have never experienced before. On similar lines, engagement in the arts may feel good and you enjoy doing it, but try to explaining to someone why you like listening to music, what made you hang that particular print in your lounge room, or why you never missed a social dance event at the local RSL club. Sometimes it’s easier to just do it, rather than try to explain it. You can also try using examples, go on outings to see what other people are doing, or try new things on a small scale to give the community a taste of what is possible.
3. Plant seeds of ideas and assist them to grow, develop and evolve, rather than imposing your plan on the community.
Not imposing your vision or plan on the community does not mean you sit back and wait for them to tell you what they want. Think of your role as a facilitator, the ideas person, providing inspiration, motivation and logistics. Once people know they want something, and have confident in their ability to achieve it, then anything is possible.
4. Big visions, small steps.
There is no harm in thinking big. The most ambitious of projects, ideas and outcomes are achievable, and it’s great to have longer term goals. However, failure to achieve big visions can be extremely disheartening and may even result in the current situation being worse than when you started. Think big, but start off slow and work on short term easy-to-achieve goals as you work towards your utopian community dream.
Monday, October 20, 2008
The Secret Mission
My art has a secret mission
From an art therapy model the arts are used as a way of increasing self-esteem, for self-expression, to alleviate stress, and to help in management of pain and anxiety when faced with illness, death or other trauma.
‘We’ve used the arts to bring people back together and build relationships and make people feel good about themselves. But I’ve also personally used that as an artist as well. We’ve had a lot of (people) passing away in the last 4 years. (I) really got involved in the arts and worked through my emotions doing painting and that sort of thing.’
The arts have also been suggested to be good for the health of society because they provide interest, amusement, satire, challenge and vision. I’ve mentioned already too that people engage in the arts for different reasons (Friday, August 8, 2008 - Arts in the Murchison) including to simply create great art, for networking and social opportunities, entertainment, recreation and pleasure, a positive outlet in a safe venue, and to expand potential career opportunities by increasing both skills and confidence. There is also the idea that the arts builds capacity and strengthens local identity (social wellbeing) while also providing opportunities for income generation and other economic benefits, like tourism to rural communities.
‘Artists get a reward by making money for themselves and their kids, they know they’ve got a reward out there… You see these mobs, the two groups, and they don’t talk to each other, but they all went down to (the city) together. They get excited about it and go down to more art.’
‘It enriches everyone’s life. All of these arts in which everybody plays. When we came to town the thing that I heard so frequently was our town is dying, what are we going to do? What can we do to stop it from dying?… People have gotten behind the (festival). It was a way to stop the town from dying, from becoming a ghost town, or a retirement town, really. It attracts tourism, this is the main road north, if we can get people to stop, get people to stay for 2 days it helps tremendously money-wise, financially for the town.’
In this blog entry though, I wanted to concentrate on the use of the arts in a community development context. One that many local community leaders and local government workers refer to as the ‘hidden agenda’ of the arts or my favourite, “my arts project’s secret mission”.
What does it mean for an arts project to have a secret mission? Well, arts projects are seen as a way to bring people together to achieve community development outcomes, without necessarily acknowledging that this was the intention of the project from the onset. I’ve already shown a glimpse of this idea in the ending quote of one of the previous entries (Monday, June 9, 2008 - Purpose and Definitions) but there are many examples to be found throughout rural Australia.
‘The arts is always a good, it’s a good decoy, you know what I mean? Quite often if you talk about those outcomes you want to achieve then people will go, oh well I’m not coming to do that. But if it’s an artistic activity that they can learn or participate in they are more readily, you know, going to give their time to it.’
In this sense, the intended community development outcomes are not always obvious to not only the participants of the art project, but also (and somewhat problematically) to the funding bodies and decision-making authorities as well.
‘I was still doing arts based projects and I got pulled up all the time (by senior management). “Why are you getting the kids to paint a mural down the street?” To me that was anti-graffiti, cos it’s a space the kids graffiti all the time. If the kids then own it, paint it, it hasn’t been graffitied now. But it was very hard to get them to see that.’
Arts projects are often seen as easy to implement (that is when compared to other social or behavioural intervention projects) because they are so diverse and varied that they can appeal to a range of diverse sectors within a community that they are easy to implement.
‘The purpose (of the street art project) was to teach art, but there was also the underlying purpose of finding out why they were on the streets at night, or looking at other things that gives them interest in terms of identity, and colour, and doing painting, and just be proud of yourself as an aboriginal person.’
In the framework below, the reasons for engagement by the participants can be completely independent from the perceived need, or desired outcomes of the project (yep, you guessed it, that’s the secret mission bit). The perceived need and reasons for engagement can be independent again from the actual outcomes of the project, which may or may not have been intentional (hidden again, sometimes even from those who instigated the project in the first place!).
From an art therapy model the arts are used as a way of increasing self-esteem, for self-expression, to alleviate stress, and to help in management of pain and anxiety when faced with illness, death or other trauma.
‘We’ve used the arts to bring people back together and build relationships and make people feel good about themselves. But I’ve also personally used that as an artist as well. We’ve had a lot of (people) passing away in the last 4 years. (I) really got involved in the arts and worked through my emotions doing painting and that sort of thing.’
The arts have also been suggested to be good for the health of society because they provide interest, amusement, satire, challenge and vision. I’ve mentioned already too that people engage in the arts for different reasons (Friday, August 8, 2008 - Arts in the Murchison) including to simply create great art, for networking and social opportunities, entertainment, recreation and pleasure, a positive outlet in a safe venue, and to expand potential career opportunities by increasing both skills and confidence. There is also the idea that the arts builds capacity and strengthens local identity (social wellbeing) while also providing opportunities for income generation and other economic benefits, like tourism to rural communities.
‘Artists get a reward by making money for themselves and their kids, they know they’ve got a reward out there… You see these mobs, the two groups, and they don’t talk to each other, but they all went down to (the city) together. They get excited about it and go down to more art.’
‘It enriches everyone’s life. All of these arts in which everybody plays. When we came to town the thing that I heard so frequently was our town is dying, what are we going to do? What can we do to stop it from dying?… People have gotten behind the (festival). It was a way to stop the town from dying, from becoming a ghost town, or a retirement town, really. It attracts tourism, this is the main road north, if we can get people to stop, get people to stay for 2 days it helps tremendously money-wise, financially for the town.’
In this blog entry though, I wanted to concentrate on the use of the arts in a community development context. One that many local community leaders and local government workers refer to as the ‘hidden agenda’ of the arts or my favourite, “my arts project’s secret mission”.
What does it mean for an arts project to have a secret mission? Well, arts projects are seen as a way to bring people together to achieve community development outcomes, without necessarily acknowledging that this was the intention of the project from the onset. I’ve already shown a glimpse of this idea in the ending quote of one of the previous entries (Monday, June 9, 2008 - Purpose and Definitions) but there are many examples to be found throughout rural Australia.
‘The arts is always a good, it’s a good decoy, you know what I mean? Quite often if you talk about those outcomes you want to achieve then people will go, oh well I’m not coming to do that. But if it’s an artistic activity that they can learn or participate in they are more readily, you know, going to give their time to it.’
In this sense, the intended community development outcomes are not always obvious to not only the participants of the art project, but also (and somewhat problematically) to the funding bodies and decision-making authorities as well.
‘I was still doing arts based projects and I got pulled up all the time (by senior management). “Why are you getting the kids to paint a mural down the street?” To me that was anti-graffiti, cos it’s a space the kids graffiti all the time. If the kids then own it, paint it, it hasn’t been graffitied now. But it was very hard to get them to see that.’
Arts projects are often seen as easy to implement (that is when compared to other social or behavioural intervention projects) because they are so diverse and varied that they can appeal to a range of diverse sectors within a community that they are easy to implement.
‘The purpose (of the street art project) was to teach art, but there was also the underlying purpose of finding out why they were on the streets at night, or looking at other things that gives them interest in terms of identity, and colour, and doing painting, and just be proud of yourself as an aboriginal person.’
In the framework below, the reasons for engagement by the participants can be completely independent from the perceived need, or desired outcomes of the project (yep, you guessed it, that’s the secret mission bit). The perceived need and reasons for engagement can be independent again from the actual outcomes of the project, which may or may not have been intentional (hidden again, sometimes even from those who instigated the project in the first place!).
A framework for arts project’s inputs and outcomes
‘We did an art workshop about domestic violence and that’s when we adopted the art. We got the interest. None of us ladies ever painted before. You look at it and you’d never think that we never painted before. We’re just gifted all this hidden talent. It’s just natural, hey. It really is, you know? And its good for ‘em, y’know? It’s amazing. I often sit here and look around and tell these ladies, you know I wouldn’t have thought you’d have it in ya. The progress has come a long way. From the first one, you know? And to look around now, gawd!’
As already mentioned the outcomes of the project may be totally unrelated to the desired outcomes, or perceived need for the project, which again, may be different from the motivation of the participants for wanting to get involved. Often, though, the outcomes produce a positive feedback loop with the result of building both individual and community capacity, as well as providing proof of the outcomes to build more support and funding for future projects.
‘Makes you feel proud too, you know. You had an input into everything’s that happen, you know. With our town, it looks good. I reckon that when the kids see that too, you’re role models and they respect what you do and they don’t destroy it and that. No trouble with vandalism or anything like that, its been good.’
‘If you have a healthy and well functioning individual, then you have a healthy community. If you do things that are visible, like the arts are, that makes you feel good about yourself, and if you feel good about yourself then everything else functions good. That’s what I believe any way. I use the arts all the time.’
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