A Publication of the Community Arts Convening and Research Project

Volume III, Fall 2011

• Project Director & Managing Editor: Ken Krafchek
• Coordinating Editor: Amalia Mesa-Bains
• Convening Coordinator: Paula Phillips
• Fellowship Coordinator: Frankie Gamber
• Manuscript Editor: Linda Frye Burnham
• Funder: The Nathan Cummings Foundation
• Publisher: Maryland Institute College of Art

Editorial Board:

• Ron Bechet, Professor of Art, Xavier University of Louisiana
• Nicole Garneau, Cultural Worker, Chicago,
  Adjunct Faculty, Cultural Studies, Columbia College Chicago,
  Research Assistant, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
• Debra Rubino, Director, Strategic Communications at Open Society Institute-Baltimore; Artist, Baltimore, Maryland
• Amalia Mesa-Bains, Professor Emerita, California State University Monterey Bay, San Juan Bautista, CA
• Ken Krafchek, Faculty & Graduate Director, MA & MFA in Community Arts, Maryland Institute College of Art

Community Arts Journal is a periodic online publication of the Community Arts Convening and Research Project. Its mission is to advance the field of community arts by providing a platform for inclusive dialogue and documentation linking academia and community. The Project is sponsored by Maryland Institute College of Art and funded by
The Nathan Cummings Foundation (NCF).

The Project provides the opportunity for college and university faculty and students, community scholars, and community-based practitioners to meet and share resources and models for best practices in the field; define and solve current challenges facing the field; identify and discuss new research and generate new ideas; develop strong leadership; and cultivate new partnerships

ISSN#: Pending Copyright: Maryland Institute College of Art unless otherwise noted; all other publication rights revert to the author(s) thereof. Opinions expressed by authors of Community Arts Journal do not necessarily express those of the editors or Maryland Institute College of Art. Submissions for further volumes of Community Arts Journal are not being accepted at this time. Citations: Please cite essays in Community Arts Journal in this way: Author last name, first name. "Article Title." Community Arts Journal: A Publication of the Community Arts Convening and Research Project. Maryland Institute College of Art. Volume.number (Year). Web. Day Month Year you accessed it.Example: Doe, Jane. "Teaching Dance in Prison." Community Arts Journal: A Publication of the Community Arts Convening and Research Project. Maryland Institute College of Art. 3 (2011). Web. 8 December 2011.

MICA has a long history of creative community engagement and is dedicated to the development and advancement of community arts models at several levels. Through its M.A. and M.F.A. in Community Arts, under the umbrella of the College's national Center for Art Education, and M.A. in Social Design and M.F.A. in Curatorial Practice, MICA prepares graduate-level students in the art of building community through collaboration in the arts. The Community Art Collaborative, an AmeriCorps-funded program, places graduate students and independent artists in intensive yearlong residencies with Baltimore nonprofit organizations to create, support and sustain arts-based programming, while the Community Arts Partnership program provides similar opportunities for undergraduate students each semester. The College's new Office of Community Engagement provides resources and support for MICA-affiliated projects, programs and courses that use art and design to strengthen communities and create positive, community-centered change. Social design initiatives include the Center for Design Practice, a multi-disciplinary studio that collaborates with outside organizations enabling the students to problem solve and use design to make an impact on society, and the Design Coalition class, founded 10 years ago as a MICA and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health partnership, which challenges students with social- and community-based design work with an emphasis on East Baltimore projects and relationships. Through MICA's applied and fine arts departments, students and faculty engage in real-world projects in collaboration with communities that focus on public health education, urban development, historic preservation, and the empowerment of Baltimore communities and the surrounding region.