Arts in the Community

When artists work with community groups, powerful things emerge. Community Arts projects provide:

• opportunities for diverse communities to become involved in the creative process by working with practising artists to create works of relevance to their community
• ways for a community to explore issues of identity, aspirations, fears and hopes for the future

• a means to build stronger communities; those that are diverse and creative tend to become more resilient, culturally richer and better able to deal with challenges.

Participants in these arts projects experience an increased sense of belonging, and are better able to create networks and partnerships within their local community. By becoming involved in these projects they :

• increase engagement in their community; impacting on self esteem and pride
• develop new skills, networks and opportunities for inclusion.

Artists have reported a experiencing a sense of achievement from working on these projects, citing the value of giving voice to elements of the community that otherwise may not be heard. Accordingly, they are:

• exposed to new stories and experiences which strengthen and inspire their artistic practice
• provided with new networks and are able to source opportunities for further work.

Arts Victoria supports a number of Community Arts projects through the Community Partnerships program. Below is a preview of some of the projects that Arts Victoria has supported:

• The Go Show (Sons of the West Kick Goals for the Arts!)
• Ahlam: Dream (Turning Dreams into Reality)
• A Lure (Make a Choice for an A-Lure-ing Project)
• Snow Circus at Possum Flat (Light in the snow)
• Inner Self - Outer Images (A revealing exhibition from young artists with a disability in Warrnambool)
• In My Day (Animated school yard hi-jinks)
• The Dug Out Canoe Project (Reinvigorating ancient skills)
• Puppets on Show (Dreaming big)
• Precious Little (The Nowa Nowa Project: Open for Inspection)