Recommended Reading
Animating Democracy regularly posts essays, articles, and book recommendations and reviews from arts, humanities, civic engagement/dialogue and other fields that illuminate arts- and humanities-based civic engagement and dialogue work. New case studies and other publications from Animating Democracy as well as “good choice” from the Americans for the Arts Bookstore are also highlighted.
Animating Democracy Resource
Animating Democracy: The Artistic Imagination as a Force in Civic Dialogue
by Barbara Schaffer Bacon, Cheryl Yuen, and Pam Korza
Summary: In 1996, The Ford Foundation awarded a grant to Americans for the Arts to profile a selection of artists and cultural organizations whose work engages the public in dialogue on key issues. The resulting report — a pivotal resource for the field —mapped practice across disciplines at that time, identified issues and trends, and suggested funding and policy opportunities. In addition, the report includes profiles of over 90 projects implemented by 1996 - including a review of each project, dialogue techniques used, and specific outcomes and challengs.
No longer available in print form, this exceptional resource can now be downloaded from the Animating Democracy website.
New from Animating Democracy
The Arts and Civic Engagement Tool Kit: Planning Tools and Resources for Animating Democracy in Your Community
created by Pam Korza, Barbara Schaffer Bacon, and Michael del Vecchio
The Arts and Civic Engagement Tool Kit: Planning Tools and Resources for Animating Democracy in Your Community features customizable worksheets containing thoughtful questions, clarifying sidebars, and examples to help users plan, design, and partner to create meaningful engagement activities. Resources on the CD include:
- A context for understanding the possibilities at the intersection of art and civic life;
- Definitions of common terms and diagrams to situate arts-based civic engagement work in a broader context of arts and community engagement;
- Imagine, Define, Design—a series of worksheets designed to help users define a project’s core artistic elements and civic or social concern;
- Worksheets on forging effective partnerships;
- A framework to create meaningful dialogue at arts events; and
- A compilation of civic engagement resources including organizations, websites, and publications.
For a limited time only, order a copy of The Arts and Civic Engagement Tool Kit and a copy of Civic Dialogue, Arts and Culture: Findings from Animating Democracy together, and receive 15 percent off your complete order. To take advantage of this opportunity, contact the Americans for the Arts Store at 800.321.4510.
From the Americans for the Arts Bookstore
Art and Upheaval: Artists on the World's Frontlines
by Bill Cleveland
From Belfast to Johannesburg, Belgrade and beyond—surprising things happen when forces of creativity and destruction meet. Discover how artists are struggling for freedom and rebuilding society around the world. Art and Upheaval details stories in six communities on five continents and how artists and communities are confronting issues such as war, dictatorship, human rights, AIDS, poverty, and racism.
Check out a great review of this title from June 2008 on the Community Arts Network.
