Abstract

For my thesis I will be analyzing community arts, and how the different types of media which artists employ directly affect the product and process of the projects. If “the medium is the message” as Marshal McLuhan posits, then there is a direct relationship between the media that community artists utilize, and the products and group processes that result from the interaction. Different types of media allow communities to reflect and break down issues in different ways. I will be focusing my research on UCLArts ArtsBridge America, a not-for-profit arts organization which partners UCLA scholars with inner-city schools to develop arts-based curriculum.

Full Proposal

For my thesis I will be analyzing community arts, and how the different types of media which artists employ directly affect the product and process of the projects. If “the medium is the message” as Marshal McLuhan posits, then there is a direct relationship between the media that community artists utilize, and the products and group processes that result from the interaction. Different types of media allow communities to reflect and break down issues in different ways. I will be focusing my research on UCLArts ArtsBridge America, a not-for-profit arts organization which partners UCLA scholars with inner-city schools to develop arts-based curriculum. Many of the students see their work as something more than just art-making. For example, ArtsBridge Scholar Tatiana Johnson states,

I think that one thing that I’ve learned the most from this experience is that, beyond being an arts teacher, it’s just really [important] to reach to the students and just let them know that they’re worth something… Not only do I feel like the arts does that because it gives them a sense of accomplishment [sic], but I just want to say the importance of us going in there and really believing that.

This introduces a key element of community art, which is Critical Social Analysis. While teaching practical skills is one part of the work that ArtsBridge does, instilling agency into the students which scholars interact with is a key component to transforming social paradigms. Other elements which define community arts are Collaboration, Commitment, and Creative Artistic Practice. Professor Deborah Barndt from York University describes these elements as The Four C’s, the fundamental building blocks of authentic community arts practice. ArtsBridge’s programming falls under this model, aiming to:

1) to energize the creative, educational, and life opportunities of students and teachers in inner city neighborhoods, and 2) to provide meaningful opportunities for university students and faculty to link their work in higher education to creatively rigorous, socially relevant, community work. (UCLArts ArtsBridge)

As a community arts organization, ArtsBridge engages scholars from a variety of arts backgrounds, some of them academic, and others developed through outside training. The year 2006 had scholars with expertise in Capoeira, Hip Hop, West African Dance, Step Dance, Yoga, Photography, Design, Gardening, Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, and Spoken Word. One of the ArtsBridge (AB) Scholars, Andrea Rodriguez, created a whole curriculum based around the Latin American celebration of Carnaval. While the scholars interests are broad, they are all taught the California curriculum standards on what skills students needed to acquire in their short time with them. AB Scholars received course credit for their efforts, as well as a $1000 scholarship, with extra funds for supplies. While AB Scholars are provided with much support from the University, they still face the difficult task of navigating through Los Angeles’ public school system.

Some common problems that the students faced were miscommunication with administration, as well as a lack of space. Ultimately, these problems seemed to stem from the same source, a strappingly funded shaky system which is forced to prioritize testing over student’s needs. California state funding is divided up according to test scores. The majority of the schools which ArtsBridge operates in are under-performing, which therefore end up receiving the lowest state funding. This ironic formula provides students who are struggling with less resources, and those who excel with increased benefits. Low-performing schools are often forced to cut extra-curricular activities in order to make time for preparing the students for achieving testing standards. Often times this means that there is no room for Arts Education in the classroom. Aspiring artists are cut off from opportunities to excel. Literally there is no space for the arts in the majority of Los Angeles inner-city schools, and AB Scholars have an uphill battle in implementing their curriculum. This manifests itself in many ways; not having space to practice, not having space on a hard drive to save a students work, not having time to have effective communication with teachers and administration, etc., etc. The different media that the students utilize provides different hurdles in an inner-city public school situation. Lack of resources dictates that without outside support, many of these art activities would not be possible.

Another challenge that scholars face is with their interactions with students. Many of the students come from low-income families who have recently immigrated to the United States of America. While the type of media being used in community arts projects is important, it also directly interacts with the context of the community where it is practiced. Communities are not homogenous and are made up of a multitude of individual identities. It is important in any community arts practice to be sensitive to how each individual relates to the media they are working with, continuously working to bridge barriers to access and creativity.

I was able to learn about their experiences with their individual media through being able to attend some of the classes as a videographer. Some of the classes I only got to attend once, while others I was able to come back and develop relationships with the students. A few of the ArtsBridge partner schools, like David Star Jordan High School, I was not able to attend, and most of the information I have about it is from video that other scholars took. While I have not met all of the students in the video, I feel like I have an intimate knowledge of their pedagogical experience and reflections, as I have edited footage of them.

For the purpose of understanding how media affects community arts projects’ products and processes I will be contrasting kinetic movement art forms, movement based media such as the dance projects at Santa Monica High School, with digital art forms, namely the photo-collage project at Jordan High School. By contrasting kinetic art forms with digital art forms, I will show how different types of media are useful in different community art scenarios. Much like how communities are non-homogenous in nature, the same applies to media. Media often crosses boundaries, for example filmed theatre and drama, or performances which feature music and video. While it is hard to separate and compile art into categories, there are still obvious differences which can be contrasted between the different media.

Research Methods
I will be exploring and contrasting the different media used in the UCLArts ArtsBridge program in order to develop a framework for analyzing their effects on community arts processes and products. Through my internship at UCLArts ArtsBridge I was able to bring my video camera with me into the classrooms and create digital shorts on the different classroom projects. With the collected footage I have created a series of documentary shorts. In the process of making the documentaries I have utilized the media-making process as a pedagogical tool to help me reinterpret my experiences and draw out new meanings.

While reflecting on the media making process, I will also be conducting a content analysis of the footage. The footage is diverse in nature, consisting of reflections from students, parents, teachers, scholars, foundations, and project coordinators. There is also quite a large amount of footage of the projects in action. As a part of my internship I was able to complete a series of short films highlighting the various classroom projects, and I will be using the content of these, as well as out-takes, to draw upon my theory of how different media shapes the classroom projects.

Through my reflections on my video work of ArtsBridge classrooms and meetings, combined with a content analysis of the short films I created, I will be able to reflect on my main research questions:

 How do the different types of media that the AB Scholars use affect the processes and products in the ArtsBridge classroom projects?

 How do key tensions within community arts practice play out within the different media used in ArtsBridge projects?
 How does community arts foster agency in ArtsBridge classroom students?
 How does community arts challenge mainstream cultural discourse?
 What types of challenges does ArtsBridge have in increasing access to the arts within marginalized communities?
 How can ArtsBridge Scholars traverse and adapt to multiple identities and create a safe, comfortable, collaborative space for all participants?

 How does community arts transform communities?

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 9th, 2006 at 9:22 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.