Below I have posted a proposal called "VOICE" I submitted to The London Community Foundation in 2011. The community concept sought to mobilize the community around arts and stories of lived experience to help raise awareness about poverty and homelessness in our city. I thought the information may benefit others seeking to use the arts for change in their own communities across Canada.
IJCAIP
THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE CREATIVE ARTS
IN INTERDISCIPLINARY PRACTICE
Cheryl
L. McLean, Publisher, Executive Editor
Email: CherylMcLean@ijcaip.com
London, Ont.
VOICE is
a year long pilot programme (consisting of numerous community art projects) leading to a main culminating event for London, Ontario which will focus on
raising awareness through arts about
the human stories of those who are often marginalized
or unheard in our community. This will
be a unique and community supported opportunity to raise awareness but also a
place for inclusivity..for Londoner’s to
come together to celebrate the
considerable creativity, diversity and
talents of all of the citizens living in and around the City of London. The projects and main event/s will help create
a place to voice stories about:
- homelessness
- poverty, unemployed
- mental health
- disability
- Aboriginal life
- Environmental issues
- aging/Alzheimer’s, dementia
- youth/under-employed
- immigrant communities
- needs of caregivers/professional healthcare workers
London,
Ontario, is currently experiencing growth and change with an emphasis on
development in our city core. Considering
the opportunities and challenges in times of increased urban development and the possible
consequences such as displacement, lack
of affordable housing, homelessness and poverty, as well as the critical needs for mental
health services, VOICE is a well timed event which would help serve vital needs in our city.
The
purpose of VOICE will be to use the arts
in many forms to help bring about transformational
change, to tell and present stories for
public witness, to help foster public empathy and understanding,
to raise awareness, gather support and
to ultimately improve quality of life for our citizens. In terms of action the event will raise awareness, foster empowerment
and act as a catalyst to help raise
critical funds for affordable and
accessible housing for those in need in our city.
It is
envisioned VOICE act as an “umbrella”
programme (featuring many arts for change projects developed and prepared over a year) removing
barriers and breaking down prohibitive “special interest” silos while uniting
the London community its citizens and organizations around positive community change. A number of local organizations are already currently
active in highly successful events that help support local citizens and offer
places for self expression
(examples: CMHA “Framing the
Phoenix” (mental health/arts) , “Grit Uplifted” London Intercommunity Health
(writing/homelessness), Poetry Slam and others…VOICE will help profile these
projects and initiate new projects through
story, drama, poetry, art, photography, visual art, music, dance and film
in a unified effort to educate the community and profile persons and issues while working to
validate individuals, provide a space and place for creativity and purpose,
community connectedness, and
foster hope for change.
It is envisioned that organizationally, members
of varied communities (see para. 2 list above) will lend a participatory voice in helping to shape
the year long projects and main event (providing input, leadership, volunteers, etc.)
It is
conceived VOICE might also link to our London
educational communities…research and
social service community and feature research/dissemination (such
as photovoice/performance and narrative projects etc. ) at our local art galleries
and other venues. Projects will seek
to raise awareness about issues of marginalization. Public and secondary schools would be active
in projects linked to the theme as well as the idea of working together for hope and change.
It is
expected the pilot programme would require at least one year in terms of preparatory lead up programmes and the main
event. Groups will be active over the
year in creating art in many forms which will be featured at the main
event. Lead up projects would involve groups working
with trained facilitators/directors who will guide them in creating their own
exhibits/written contributions/ special performances/music (instrumental/choir
etc.) /video/dance/films /digital etc. for VOICE. This initiative may also involve facilitation
and working with homeless persons and other participants over the year
to help create other forms of craft (which could potentially be
marketable) …carpentry projects for
example, quilting and projects related to fashion, digital
technologies etc. These projects could
help provide creative and purposeful activities while fostering empowerment, agency
and self sufficiency.
VOICE will be designed to be a
prototype project which could be an exemplar for cities and an example for positive
community change… the London VOICE project becoming the model for similar
events across Canada. There are plans to
formally study this project as it unfolds in order to create a VOICE document/report which could be consulted by
other municipalities who would wish to institute a similar programme.
In terms
of dissemination, The International Journal of The Creative Arts in
Interdisciplinary Practice IJCAIP available and accessible worldwide (http://www.ijcaip.com) will feature several articles about VOICE in
upcoming journal issues accessible worldwide
and the third text in the CAIP (Creative Arts in Interdisciplinary
Practice) Series, also titled
“VOICE” will feature an article in the
book about the story of the London project as it unfolded… a model and an inspiration for other communities
active in work for community change.
Although it is very early to speculate as to
which London organizations may be potentially
interested in some form of involvement in this event, the following is
proposed as a list of possibles:
International
Journal of The Creative Arts in Interdisciplinary Practice IJCAIP
London
Food Bank
London
Intercommunity Health Centre
London
Community Foundation
Museum
London
Canadian
Mental Health Association
London
Intercommunity Health
London
Health Sciences Centre
University
of Western Ontario
Aeolian
Hall
Palace
Theatre
East
London Business Association
Community
Care Access
YMCA/YWCA
United
Way
The Arts
Project
My
Sister’s Place
Lawyers
Feed the Hungry, London, Ont.
Ark-Aid
Hunger
Relief Action Coalition
London
Coffee House
Street
Connections
Unity
Project/Up with Art
London
Dental Community Cares
London
Fire Department
London
Police Department
Habitat
for Humanity
Sunfest
Old East
Village Business Improvement
London
Free Press
Scene
Magazine
The
Londoner
Proposal summary:
There
have been programmes and initiatives related to marginalization and
homelessness in London, however, the human issues are still not well understood
by the public at large. This creates a knowledge
gap which continues to impede efforts for change in our city and in other urban
centres. There is a growing body of research that substantiates the use of the
*creative arts for community and cultural change. VOICE is a community based process and awareness raising initiative , an
exemplar for other cities, that uses the arts in action to foster participative
citizen engagement, build community vitality and foster transformative change focusing
public attention on stories and lived experiences of marginalization, homelessness
and related issues. The initiative will offer
an inclusive opportunity to connect around the creativity, diversity and talents
of all London’s citizens with arts opportunities for youth to senior citizen with
a goal to close the gap between rich and poor and bring about attitudinal
change.
VOICE consists of of facilitated and participative
arts for change projects (visual arts, storytelling, writing, performance, choral
music, other) leading to a culminating event October 2012. There will be opportunities for research and
exhibits in galleries and public spaces to encourage reflection, public
dialogue and discussion. A summary report would be completed 2013 with
follow up articles in *IJCAIP Journal and upcoming book *VOICE! Transforming Cities through Citizen Stories
and the Arts in Action
VOICE
could potentially build on work of London CAReS and Strengthening Community and Neighbourhoods, London Community Housing Strategy and The Cultural Prosperity Plan. There was a suggestion a presentation
about the new initiative might be scheduled at the Culture Days event and National
Housing Day. (list of 30 other potential city collaborations was included in draft
submission to LCF).
Leverage
may include in kind donations, city venues, community volunteers, IJCAIP donated
publishing support, academic expertise, etc.
_____________________
Respectfully submitted,
Cheryl
McLean/IJCAIP
Executive
Editor, Publisher, International Journal of The Creative Arts in
Interdisciplinary Practice Journal
Editor,
Creative Arts in Interdisciplinary Practice CAIP Research Series
Creative Arts in
Interdisciplinary Practice, Inquiries for Hope and Change
Creative Arts for Community and
Cultural Change,
Detselig Temeron Press, Calgary.
Creative Arts in Humane Medicine, Brush Education, dist. University of Toronto Press, 2014
Creative Arts in Humane Medicine, Brush Education, dist. University of Toronto Press, 2014
http://www.ijcaip.com
Info: CherylMcLean@ijcaip.com
London.
