How not what

About the project

What does it mean to really be in a place? As artists and educators interested in socially engaged art, community organizing, and service learning, being in a place for more than a few months changes what is possible. This interview series delves into the work that people do in the places they live, over time. In an outcomes-oriented world, focus tends to be on results, but with these conversations we aim to flip this script and talk about how something is accomplished, the day to day of action in place. We eschew the tidiness of documentation and the packaged reflections that we create in elevator pitches, artist statements, and grant proposals. Instead, we believe there is an ethical imperative to share knowledge, skills, successes, and failures with other place-based practitioners. This is not a primer on socially engaged art or social design or community organizing. This is conversation, asking someone for advice and talking honestly about when a process works and when it does not. It is an exploration of what it means to engage in the social dynamics of a place, staying long enough to see the impact of your actions, and continuing to be involved. This is an accounting of the interrelation of people, place, and process. Focusing on the “how” of a project, to learn from each other what we can do.