RESOURCES :: USEFUL WEBSITES

 Artists Helping Children
A non-profit NHF.org charity dedicated to bringing comfort to children in hospitals, clinics, and shelters by brightening their environment with murals and other art. They provide resources to community groups who are interested in and creating murals.

Center for Art in the Public Interest/   Community Arts Network
Information exchange, research and critical dialogue within the field of community-based arts.

  Center for Creative Communities
Includes a newsletter, case studies, articles, opportunities for online collaboration, and links to successful community projects, mainly in Europe.

  Community Arts Network
A site promoting information exchange, research and critical dialogue within the field of community-based art.

  COMPAS
A Minnesota non-profit organization comprised of and driven by the communities served. A number of participatory arts programs serve as regional and national models.

  Institute on Arts and the Civic Dialogue
The position of the artist in society is frequently marginal. In a time when there is so much performance in public life from non-artists, and at a time when life sometimes seems bigger than art, how does the artist meet the challenge of mirroring society? Does the artist have something to offer society in terms of civic leadership? Does civic space have something to offer the artist? What happens if an artist determines both to absorb and be absorbed by his or her society? Could the artist, in fact, become an unexpected voice of reason? Could engagement with the public enhance the will to communicate? At a time when some art forms are losing audience, are there new ways to negotiate a relationship to the audience without losing the space the artist requires in order to be reflective? The Institute on the Arts & Civic Dialogue will explore such questions by workshopping new works in an atmosphere that is conducive to the discussion of civic issues. This site has some interesting theoretical writing.

  Laidlaw Foundation
Includes theoretical writing and a description of a Canadian program similar to the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs ARTS UP Program.

  Partners for Livable Communities
A nonprofit organization committed to improving community well-being through economic development, social equity, amenity assets and quality of life.

  Rockefeller Foundation
The Creativity and Culture Program includes support for community cultural development projects and publications about community cultural-development practice.

  The Saguaro Seminar
A project focusing on expanding what we know in the U.S. about our levels of trust and community engagement, and on developing strategies and efforts to increase this engagement.