Turning community stories into community art

Abstract

There is a growing interest in community art, yet few resources are available for art teachers to develop curriculum material in this area, and there are few opportunities for students to engage in community arts-based learning. This article reports on an innovative community art project that engaged narrative, and sculptural form, as a way of learning about community, Place and identity. The project is explained from the perspective of an art educator, researcher and artist who was employed in the project both as community artist and as facilitator. This 'insider's perspective' aims to afford some context to relevant theories through which such projects can be understood as potentially beneficial to art education – particularly in the way people have used narrative to communicate issues of Place, and the ways in which artists have translated community narratives into sculptural form. The author's insider perspective is a lens into how community arts could offer students an opportunity to learn about contemporary art whilst at the same time learning about ways of engaging in community.