How It's Being Done: Arts Business Training Across the U.S.

This report seeks to answer the question "How is business training being delivered to artist across the U.S.?" Artists need to proactively manage the business side of their creative practice, often approaching their practice as an entrepreneurial endeavor, particularly as public funding for the arts has declined and funding for individual artists is especially difficult to find. To support their efforts, state and local agencies, artist services organizations, universities and others are providing training, resources, and technical services directly to artists. We have identified 163 programs or services offered by 79 different organizations or individuals that provide arts business training or resources of various types to individual artists and the leaders of small arts organizations

Supporting arts and enterprise skills in communities through creative engagement with the local area

The project proposes a framework and methodology of artistic and creative social intervention that empowers and supports engagement with communities of young people affected by change in their local environment. This is a UK Arts and Humanities Research Council funded Knowledge Transfer Fellowship aimed at building new and innovative models of creative community engagement and collaboration. The project supports active citizenship among young people by facilitating social capacity building through enterprise structures and transferring the creative lead in socially responsive arts projects to those in need of empowerment. The initial action research project is utilising an arts and enterprise participation model to create self-branded commodities that will give a role to young people within a wider, community driven, gun crime reduction and social cohesion programme. The model seeks to sustain the commitment of those participating by focussing on metrics and benchmarks that young people in the project can own and influence. The blend of creative agendas and enterprise goals provides a breadth of purpose and opportunity, linking outputs to specific environmental and social impacts. The project evidences the role and function of arts media in multi-strand learning and participation projects. As educational policy and practice (14+ age range) in the UK moves more towards action based learning for transferable life skills, the project provides a methodology emphatic of team and collaborative process, individual responsibility and creativity. The process develops ownership and shared responsibility in relation to community initiatives; fostering fresh creativity and a diversity of approach in the exploration of social, physical and racial issues arising from economic disadvantage. The knowledge transfer process is targeting a toolkit relating to multi-agency project working, creative research and action learning, empowerment and applied social arts practices

Caring deception : community art in the suburbs of Aotearoa (New Zealand) : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Fine Arts at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand

In Aotearoa (New Zealand), community art practice has a disadvantaged status and a poorly documented national history. This thesis reinvigorates the theory and practice of community art and cultural democracy using adaptable and context-specific analyses of the ways that aesthetics and ethics can usefully co-exist in practices of social change. The community art projects in this thesis were based in four suburbs lying on the economic and spatial fringes of Aotearoa. Over 4 years, I generated a comparative and iterative methodology challenging major binaries of the field, including: ameliorative vs. disruptive; coloniser vs. colonised; instrumental vs. instrumentalised; and long term vs. short term. This thesis asserts that these binaries create a series of impasses that drive the practice towards two new artistic categories, which I define as caring deception and the facade. All the projects I undertook were situated in contested space, where artists working with communities overlapped with local and national governments aiming for CBD and suburban re-vitalisation, creative city style initiatives, community development, grassroots creative projects, and curated public-art festivals. I worked within and around these structures, by practicing a methodology of caring deception. I applied a selection of artistic terms of engagement to vernacular structures such as public fountains, festival marquees, popup venues and community centres to negotiate deceit, resentment and care in the making of the art work. This thesis asserts that the methodology of caring deception creates a social ethics in action that can become embodied in the form of the art work

Intergenerational Education for Social Inclusion and Solidarity: The Case Study of the EU Funded Project "Connecting Generations"

This paper reflects on lessons learned from a validated model of international collaboration based on research and practice. During the European Year for Active Ageing, a partnership of seven organizations from the European Union plus Turkey implemented the Lifelong Learning Programme partnership “Connecting Generations‘ which involved universities, non-governmental organizations, third age Universities and municipalities in collaboration with local communities. Reckoning that Europe has dramatically changed in its demographic composition and is facing brand new challenges regarding intergenerational and intercultural solidarity, each partner formulated and tested innovative and creative practices that could enhance better collaboration and mutual understanding between youth and senior citizens, toward a more inclusive Europe for all. Several innovative local practices have experimented, attentively systematized and peer-valuated among the partners. On the basis of a shared theoretical framework coherent with EU and Europe and Training 2020 Strategy, an action-research approach was adopted throughout the project in order to understand common features that have been replicated and scaled up since today

Co-designing Speakers Corner

“What might a twenty-first century Speakers’ Corner look like and how should the design process ensure that local people can contribute?” The paper considers this question through describing a three year collaboration between MA Creative Practice for Narrative Environments (MACPfNE) at CSM, and the Speakers’ Corner Trust (SCT). SCT is a charity promoting public debate and active citizenship to revitalise civil society in the UK. It pursues its aims by forming local Committees which ‘own’ and steer the establishment of Speakers’ Corners as platforms for public engagement. MACPfNE is an innovative course that encourages multidisciplinary collaboration and the use of narrative as a tool to develop user focused environments. Working closely with SCT, MACPfNE staff and students developed a methodology whereby communities co-create their own physical manifestation of Speakers’ Corner to suit needs and environment. The methodology and its theoretical foundation were developed through a series of live projects, including: a generic mobile Speakers’ Corner prototype, tested at the Global Forum for Freedom of Expression in Oslo; the co-design with local school children, followed by implementation of London’s second Speakers’ Corner in a community park in North London; and a pilot project to co-design Speakers’ Corner in every school playground

Governing the governors : a case study of college governance in English further education

This paper addresses the nature of governors in the governance of further education colleges in an English context (1). It explores the complex relationship between governors (people/agency), government (policy/structure) and governance (practice), in a college environment. While recent research has focused on the governance of schooling and higher education there has been little attention paid to the role of governors in the lifelong learning sector. The objective of the paper is to contribute to the debate about the purpose of college governance at a time when the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) commissioning era ends, and new government bodies responsible for further education and training, including local authorities, arrive. The paper analyses the nature of FE governance through the perspectives and experiences of governors, as colleges respond to calls from government for greater improvement and accountability in the sector (LSIS, 2009a). What constitutes creative governance is complex and controversial in the wider framework of regulation and public policy reform (Stoker, 1997; Seddon, 2008). As with other tricky concepts such as leadership, professionalism and learning, college governance is best defined in the contexts, cultures and situations in which it is located. College governance does not operate in a vacuum. It involves governors, chairs, principals, professionals, senior managers, clerks, community, business and wider agencies, including external audit and inspection regimes. Governance also acts as a prism through which national education and training reforms are mediated, at local level. While governing bodies are traditionally associated with the business of FE - steering, setting the tone and style, dealing with finance, funding, audit and procedural matters – they are increasingly being challenged to be more creative and responsive to the wider society. Drawing on a recent case study of six colleges, involving governors and key policy stakeholders, this paper explores FE governance in a fast changing policy environment

Researching collaborative artistic practice.

In this paper we offer discussion of collaboration in artistic practice, based on a two-and-a-half-year-long research project undertaken by artists/researchers at the University of Waikato, working in collaboration with local performers. Grounded in kaupapa M¯ori, feminist and phenomenological research methodologies, this research project provided a context for exploring existing understandings of collaborative processes in the arts, and for immersion in and development of alternative processes, across artistic mediums and cultures. Drawing on contemporary understandings of cross-cultural and intercultural practices in the arts, we discuss how shared conceptualisation of ideas, immersion in different creative processes, personal reflection and development over extended periods of time were found to foster collaboration. In this paper we will explore the value and nature of relationships within collaboration, and discuss how selfdetermination or tino rangatiratanga might be maintained within the context of collaborative performance art

How can Organic Agriculture contribute to Sustainable Development?

Organic agriculture can, especially in poorer countries, contribute to meaningful socioeconomical and ecologically sustainable development. On the one hand, this is due to the organic practice, which means management of local resources (e.g. local seed varieties, dung, etc.) and therefore cost effectiveness. On the other hand, the market for organic products — at local and international level — has tremendous prospects for growth and offers to creative producers and exporters from the south some excellent opportunities to improve their incomes and living conditions. As to whether organic agriculture is a viable alternative for a particular holding, is something, which can only be clarified case by case. What are the potentials of organic agriculture for the solution of the hunger and poverty problems? What can organic agriculture contribute to socially and ecologically sustainable development in poor countries? At the core of organic agriculture are the promotion of soil fertility, biodiversity (e.g. native flora and fauna), locally adapted production methods and the renouncement of chemical inputs. Such methods and the cultivation of diverse crops stabilise the delicate ecosystems in the tropics and reduce drought sensitivity or pest infestations. Organic production lowers the risk of yield failure, stabilises returns and therefore enhances food security of small farmer’s families. The author presents examples from international cooperation project and discusses the following hypothesis on the basis of these examples: • Organic agriculture is sustainable and diverse; • Organic farmers conserve resources; • Organic farms produce more; • Organic products provide market access and create added value; • Organic agriculture raises self-confidence and autonomy; • The organic movement mobilises new forces and partnerships. Moreover, the author presents a farming system comparison trial, which is starting in kenia and india in cooperation with FiBl and local partners. The aim of this trial is to analize the contribution of organic agriculture to sustainable development

Emerging trends in contemporary festival practice

The Festival is a form that transcends cultures, histories and regimes. It is a construct that has been utilised in a variety of ways, for a variety of purposes, but its raison d'etre is always community, sometimes as celebrated from a popularist level, at other points manipulated by the wielders of power. In its modern context, the festival has similarly been deployed as either a means of celebrating a sense of local community, or embraced by governments as a symbol of sophisticated cosmopolitanism. This research aims to contextualise a particular kind of festival practice within both an historical and contemporary context. This is structured through three key areas: at the heart of the thesis is a study of a particular kind of contemporary festival model, the boutique festival, as produced by the Programming Unit of the Queensland Performing Arts Centre. This festival construct is significant in its positioning of the audience as both producer and consumer in a playful and intelligent manner. This kind of model is different from the more conventional high arts or community arts festival models. Secondly, the research explores how current renderings of the festival can be contextualised within historical functions, so as to highlight points of connection and departure. Thirdly, the study positions the boutique festival as but one example of a range of current local festival practices that highlight the manner in which the festival construct engages with contemporary life. This portion of the study places these local renderings within Creative Industries discourse, focussing on the notion of the Creative City. The thread that ties the areas of focus together is the role of the audience in the festival. The trope of community remains central to contemporary festival practice, but it is a term that is becoming increasingly problematic and opaque, especially within an urban context. Through a variety of constructs, contemporary festivals encourage a cultural discussion about what community means in a current context, and in so doing, invite explorations of space, identity and authenticity as well

Place-making strategies of culturepreneurs. The case of Frankfurt/M., Germany

The paper describes the emergence of a new hybrid cultural and entrepreneurial agent in the context of the local cultural industries of Frankfurt on Main (Germany). The thesis of the paper is, that the culturepreneur is responsible for new place-making strategies apart the most visible and dominant one, such as the skyline in Frankfurt/M. The understandings of his place-making strategies offer insights in new forms of negotiation of an urban renewal process. Despite this it provides a new and important evaluation of the yet underestimated spatial category place in the process and formation of scenes, recently brought into discussion by sociologist R. Hitzler (2001). Places are the terrain of the post-industrial city where different and heterogeneous scenes are struggling. The analysis of the use and significance - out of the perspective of culturepreneurs - provides a new, yet in the field of social sciences unclear, reading of the existing urban condition. The context of the emergence of the type culturepreneur is framed by neoliberal governmental and political approaches, urban marketing campaigns such as the self-promotion as being a young and a cool city like Frankfurt/M. (or Berlin) are practicing it, in order to encourage individuals to launch ones own enterprise: The first results can best be seen in the field of the growing numbers of workers in the socalled creative (service-industry-related) sector. Besides that, the growing numbers of creatives, such as web-, fashion-, music and arts and crafts designers as well as club organizers are - viewed from an institutional perspective - an expression of complex changes of the role of the arts and media sector as growing mediator between the subsectors of culture and economy. Based on comparable results of A. McRobbie´s studies (1999) in the creative sector of London (GB), this research shows that the agents of creative work are - especially since 1998 - on the one hand considered to be a symbolic forerunner and a pioneer of the politics of the new middle in Germany ('Politik der Neuen Mitte'). Thereby on a micro level we can observe agents, who reflect increasing values such as individual entrepreneuralism, bringing to light un-embedded as well as flexible labour situations. Besides their escalating sharp existential situation, they show a rising dependency of subsidies of different sponsors. Thereby creative work is squeezed and brokered by growing influences of venture capitalists using trendy popular culture products of the culturepreneurs as signs and symbols of their holistic idea serving the society. On the other hand, the growing numbers of relatively young and creative workers struggle to regain social and institutional embedding by setting up and creating new temporary and flexible alliances with different agents in the urban context, such as city governments as well as corporate firms. In sociological terms we cannot consider these actors as members of a completely individualized society anymore (Beck 2000), but as members of post-traditional communities or, like Hitzler proposed, new scenes (Hitzler 2001) amongst the culturepreneur plays a key and ma-jor formatting role, which is yet from the scientific perspective so far undefined. The paper argues that the analysis of the local cultural industry as a key factor in the creation of new labour forces in the metropolitan regions such as the Rhine-Main as well as stimulating atmospheres for service-related industries has to be connected to micro-spatial analysis of the emergence of new scenes. Sociological analysis provides valuable insights in the formation of new communities, but micro-geographical analysis can conceptually and methodologically provide a spatial understanding of complex place-making strategies of new post-traditional communities. Space is a yet an underestimated variable in the analysis of the emergence of new agents - such as the culturepreneurs - in the field of the local cultural industries. The conducted field research shows not only the fact that - from the perspective of individual agents (culturepreneurs) - place matters, but that the processes of professional socialisation is closely linked to a complex creative and necessarily practice with place in order to create a spatial network, that means a new socially-defined space. This process can first be seen as a necessary attempt in order to regain a professional place in the labour market, but second as a practice to get economic, social, and network-related attention by acting, staging and using (with) the variable place. Culturepreneurs develop - with new forms in the field of the economy of attention - these new geographies that can be read as a post-modern counterstrategy to the dominant place-making strategies, applied most visible with the geography of centrality in the case of Mainhatten (sic!), Frankfurt on Main.