Community engaged arts practices have the transformative power to activate solidarity and agency, facilitating social action and cultural democracy within communities. For a community engaged project to be successful, as well as culturally and physically safe, practitioners require knowledge of the key concepts, issues and processes of community building.
The newly added Community Engagement section in the National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA)’s Code of Practice for Visual Arts, Craft and Design (the Code) presents recommended processes to help guide community engaged arts practices. Jointly written by Robyn Gawenda, former Executive Director and co-CEO of Footscray Community Arts, and Daniel Santangeli, Artistic Director and current co-CEO of Footscray Community Arts, this section explores practices that embed direct engagement and exchange between practitioners, organisations and communities within a project.
