Engaging Classrooms and Communities Through Art: A Guide to Designing and Implementing Community-Based Art Education [Paperback]

This is an indispensable book for educators, activists, and anyone interested in social justice. Krensky and Lowe Steffen's guide to community-based arts education challenges the notion that art is a luxury reserved for elites and practiced by the gifted. In their hands, art education becomes a democratic, transformative tool for invigorating blighted communities, reducing student dropout and alienation, and inspiring participants to solve social problems. Krensky and Lowe Steffen's clear, step-by-step examples show how to build partnerships between non-artists and professional artists, kids and seniors, and local communities and schools. Engaging Classrooms andCommunities through Art will inspire citizens, politicians and social service agencies to previously unheard of levels of performance, reflection and creation. -- Margaret D. LeCompte Bravo to Krensky and Steffen for cracking the code. This publication goes beyond a descriptive survey by providing readers with a different way of knowing and creating effective community arts partnerships, thus enabling education and arts leaders to bring to life the central ideas of Shirley Brice Heath and Milbrey McLaughlin regarding the power of informal, non-classroom teaching and learning. The true winners of this publication will be our nation's youth. -- Linda Johannesen From the Preface: Community artists and especially those folks who are intrigued and enthusiastic about beginning this work have been in dire need of such a guide for a long time. While most publications about community-based art have documented or described the successes and failures of already-existing projects, Krensky and Steffen actually provide information and inspiration for implementing and sustaining excellent community arts practices. The past, present, and future of this work require such a'how-to' book, especially now, when thenumber of community-based arts initiatives is exploding worldwide... -- Tim Rollins Krensky and Steffen's guide to community-based arts provides a crucial guide to understanding and facilitating community arts actions as well as a theoretical construct that places community art at the center of cutting edge creative artistic investigation. This book validates the multiple roles of community-based artists as intuitive visionaries, educators and community leaders. -- Hugh J. Merrill Krensky and Lowe Steffen make the case for the importance of community-based art education, and outline its components and the specific steps and considerations for its implementation. Engaging Classrooms and Communities Through Art effectively addresses the praxis of community-based arts education. Krensky and Lowe Steffen provide a rich and detailed explanation of the role of the arts practitioner. At its core, Engaging Classrooms and Communities Through Art is an accessible, practical guide to implementing CBAE that will inspire and encourage. -- Shifra Teitelbaum Teachers College Record, April 2009 Authentic dialogue, local leadership, and creative critique: all these mark this volume's approach to the arts in communities and classrooms. A convincing guide for all those who see the arts as foundational to communities' vigor, youth development, and respect for cultural continuities. -- Heath, Shirley Brice From the Preface: Community artists and especially those folks who are intrigued and enthusiastic about beginning this work have been in dire need of such a guide for a long time. While most publications about community-based art have documented or described the successes and failures of already-existing projects, Krensky and Steffen actually provide information and inspiration for implementing and sustaining excellent community arts practices. The past, present, and future of this work require such a 'how-to' book, especially now, when thenumber of community-based arts initiatives is exploding worldwide. -- Tim Rollins Engaging Classrooms and Communities Through Art is a good beginning text for students interested in community-based art education...This book has many strengths. It honestly describes the hard work it takes to be successful in planning and implementing a community-based art project; it cautions art facilitators about challenges that might be faced; and it does an excellent job of articulating the process of moving through the examples that are given. -- Kristin Congdon, University of Central Florida National Art Education Association News, June 2009 Recommended CHOICE, November 2009

At the same time that arts funding and programming in schools are declining, exciting community-based art programs have successfully been able to build community, foster change, and enrich children's lives. Engaging Classrooms and Communities through Art provides a comprehensive and accessible guide to the design and implementation of community-based art programs for educators, community leaders, and artists. The book combines case studies with diverse groups across the country that are using different media - including mural arts, dance, and video - with an informed introduction to the theory and history of community-based art. It is a perfect handbook for those looking to transform their communities through art.