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surrounded by his street art<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Carrie\nsites Detroit as an example of place spoken of as \u00b4a deserted mess.\u00b4 She tells us, though, us of the other side of that\nstory, speaking of artists \u00b4moving into the city by leaps and bounds\u00b4 and\nsuggesting that, as a result, \u00b4parts of the city are beginning to thrive\nagain.\u00b4 She speaks of economic impact and the rise of culture in the city.\nThere is a magazine, she says, called Art Detroit Now which highlights current\narts and events but Carrie also remembers a project that started in the\nnineteen eighties in Detroit in an attempt to revive neighbourhoods that even\nthen, were beginning to fall apart. She tells us of an artist called Tyree\nGuyton who used found objects to rebuild his own neighbourhood, which now has\nits own community and art support. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, in what, without some empirical evidence, seems a\nnon sequiter she suggests that \u00b4when crime encroaches on neighbourhoods, we can\nrun away, or we can take ownership and do something about it. I think the \u00b4we\nshe is referring to us \u00b4the artistic community\u00b4 and she is right that such a\ncommunity could help. Art, however does not survive in isolation and nor can\nthe arts, even as a collective, stave of all the ills of society or the failings\nof governments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She points out the work, though, of Candy Chang who, after\nhurricane Katrina helped to transform torn down homes into places of social\nengagement. In doing so Chang created places where, together, people could\nre-build their hopes and aspirations with her Before I Die artist\u00b4s toolkit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/carrie-brummer-artist-and-blogger.png\")
artist and blog writer<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
There is another artist, JR, who Carrie claims has generated\ndialogue all over the world to engage society with the disenfranchised and to\nbring together feuding factions. The artist brought together communities from\nthe wrong and the right side of the tracks, firstly in his home country of\nFrance and then in other countries too. And even between the divergent\nattitudes of Israel and Palestine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Carrie\u00b4s editorial on the blog page\nI saw spoke plainly of her belief in the benefits that can be brought about by\narts interventions such as those above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00b4There is so much talk right now in\nthe Education world about the importance of the arts. But where is the\npractice? We can talk all we want, but if we don\u2019t put money where our mouths\nare, we are still saying the arts are unimportant. This series of articles,\ncalled Why Do the Arts Matter? are meant to be a tool you can share with others\nto promote and argue why it is so important to support and celebrate our arts\nprograms and our artists.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her words in many ways echo the\nsentiments of UK organists such as Artists In Schools or Pennine Ink or\ncommunity theatre groups like M6 or Skylight Circus Arts, and certainly I would\nhave penned similar paragraphs in my marketing of my own community arts group\nJust Poets during the nineties and noughties and as I know Steve still does in\ndirecting operations in our UK branch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, as I\u00b4m sure Carrie is\naware, sentiments alone are not enough. To attract support in the form of\npersonnel and funding we must provide some hard evidence of what has\npreviously, and can in future be achieved. I know how hard and diligently those\ncompanies mentioned in the paragraph work to keep records of their numbers of\nengagements and head count at each one, as well as tracing outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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