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The rise of the Young Community Artist (yCa)
Artist/writer Emma Safe examines the role of community arts in urban regeneration and in creating social cohesion.
"Community art??!" questioned a colleague with undisguised disgust at my recent art interests. I can understand her response. To the art-purist, the community artist is a court jester; a failed fine artist who sold out in artistic integrity to perform over-rehearsed workshop routines in the hope of bringing together (probably) bored communities. Community art has subsequently been dismissed as insignificant play, decoration, or plain unserious: literally, the ugly sister to fine art's Cinderella – hopelessly attached to outdated and unworkable communitarian ideals of equity and inclusion. This unrelenting derision seems surprising given that the socially inclusive aspirations that are so fundamental to community arts are now re-emerging on the cultural agenda of mainstream practice. The same art world that scoffed at community artists for taking their social responsibilities so seriously, has now wholeheartedly embraced the ideas of inclusion and accessibility for itself. A recent spate of high-profile London shows like 'Crash!' at the ICA and 'democracy!' a student-curated show at the RCA, confirm this new social agenda. For 'democracy!' Jeremy Deller converted the RCA...
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