Social impact of arts strengthens citizenship

Updated 10:00 AM January 15, 2007

Social impact of arts strengthens citizenship

By Frank Provenzano
News Service

Aiming to be a catalyst for an ongoing investigation of the role of citizenship, democracy, diversity and the arts, the Arts of Citizenship at U-M invites scholars, students, artists and community activists to a one-day conference, "Creating Campus-Community Partnerships in the Arts."

The Jan. 19 event at the Michigan League will be held in conjunction with artist Sekou Sundiata's U-M residency sponsored by the University Musical Society (UMS). During his residency, Sundiata, an internationally renowned poet and musician, will perform "the 51st (dream) state." His creative work explores the gap between American civic ideals and civic practice.

"We hope to build connections and momentum on campus about how the arts are a powerful way for the University to engage with communities," says Margaret Dewar, faculty director at the Ginsberg Center for Community Service and Learning, co-sponsor of the conference. The center facilitates partnerships between community organizations and U-M faculty and students, especially in southeastern Michigan.

"Beyond networking, we hope there's a broader discussion about the need for us to reimagine the connection between creativity and a more responsive democracy," says Dewar, a professor of urban and regional planning.

"Creating Campus-Community Partnerships in the Arts" is co-sponsored by "Arts on Earth," an intensive, campuswide initiative that stimulates, explores and celebrates the dynamic relationship between people and their arts worldwide. "Arts on Earth" ( www.artsonearth.org) sponsors and co-sponsors artistic events and convenes resident and visiting artists, critics, and scholars from all disciplines to probe deeply into the many effects—individual and social—of our interactions with our arts.

The conference is supported by grants from the National Center for Institutional Diversity and LSA Citizenship Theme Year.

Throughout the year, faculty and students are engaged in community service, using the arts as a bridge to collaborate with and learn about a community, many times low-income neighborhoods. For instance, art school students currently are teaching art to fourth-graders at Greenfield Union in Detroit, which, because of inadequate funding, otherwise could not offer the class.

Since 1998, Arts of Citizenship has coordinated collaboration among faculty and students with a range of community organizations, arts groups, K-12 educational institutions, theater groups and museums. Drawing connections among art, citizenship and democracy, Arts of Citizenship aims to foster a deeper awareness of how culture is created by people within a particular social context defined by history, values and attitudes; it is not merely a commercial commodity.

"The arts offer a creative way to get involved, and through participation in plays, concerts, exhibits and teaching, students and faculty work side by side with people in their own communities," says Dewar, noting that faculty have helped develop oral history programs in several communities.

The firsthand experiences from these partnerships with community groups give faculty and students an understanding of the realities and challenges facing communities. Over the years of community partnerships, faculty and students have gained a deeper understanding of the nature of racism, social inequality and poverty.

"Ideally, we want people to realize that they can be active participants in making culture, not just passive viewers or consumers," says Christian Willauer, conference coordinator. "With this realization, it becomes clearer how we can use the arts to reflect on our lives, our communities and society. This is a necessary step in creating change."

Amid changes in admission procedures, "Creating Campus-Community Partnerships in the Arts" presents a timely forum to explore how the University can foster multicultural understanding along with building diversity on campus, Dewar says.

"With the passage of Proposal 2, we lost one tool for diversity," she says. "Now we have to work to find other ways to broaden diversity and to demonstrate the vital connection among the arts, cultural diversity and a more tolerant, civilized society."

To register for "Creating Campus-Community Partnerships," or to learn more about Arts of Citizenship, call 647-7402 or go to www.umich.edu/~mserve/events/Partnerships_in_Arts.html. For more information on Sekou Sundiata's 8 p.m. Jan. 20 performance at the Power Center, contact UMS at 764-2538 or www.ums.org.

Social impact of arts strengthens citizenship

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