Make Arts for a Better Life

A Guide for Working with Communities

Kathleen Van Buren and Brian Shrag

Offers an in-depth guide to researching arts within communities
Provides a step by step process through which to develop, create, and evaluate arts programs that meet locally-defined needs
Written and formatted to reach a wide audience that includes both public-sector workers and academics

Make Arts for a Better Life

A Guide for Working with Communities

Kathleen Van Buren and Brian Shrag

Description

Make Arts for a Better Life: A Guide for Working with Communities provides a ground-breaking model for arts advocacy. Drawing upon methods and theories from disciplines such as ethnomusicology, anthropology, folklore, community development, and communication studies, the Guide presents an in-depth approach to researching artistic practices within communities and to developing arts-based projects that address locally-defined needs. Through clear methodology, case studies from around the world, and sample activities, the Guide helps move readers from arts research to project development to project evaluation. Woven into the discussions are critical reflections on the concept of a "better life" and ethical issues in arts advocacy. Accessible writing and visual cues ensure that readers can easily locate sections which may be particularly pertinent to their work, whether based on types of arts (music, drama, dance, oral verbal arts, visual arts) or professional positions (educators, scholars, project leaders). For additional resources, readers can access an accompanying website offering methodology "cheat sheets," sample research documents, and suggestions for educators, scholars, and project leaders.

Make Arts for a Better Life

A Guide for Working with Communities

Kathleen Van Buren and Brian Shrag

CONTENTS
List of figures
Preface
About the companion website
Who Should Use this Guide?
Foundations
Steps
Step 1: Meet a Community and Its Arts
Step 2: Specify Goals for a Better Life
Step 3: Connect Goals to Genres
Step 4: Analyze Genres and Events
Part A: Describe the Event and Its Genre(s) as a Whole
Part B: Explore the Event's Genre(s) through Artistic Domain Categories
Music in an Event
Drama in an Event
Dance in an Event
Oral Verbal Arts in an Event
Visual Arts in an Event 1Part C: Relate the Event's Genre(s) to Its Broader Cultural Context
Step 5: Spark Creativity
Step 6: Improve Results
Step 7: Celebrate and Integrate for Continuity
Closing Matter
Closing 1: References
Closing 2: Glossary
Closing 3: Sample Research Documents
Closing 4: Sample Community Arts Profile (CAP) Outline
Closing 5: Index of Artistic Domain Research Activities
Closing 6: Index of Sample Sparking Activities
Closing 7: Suggestions for Guide Users
Closing 8: Measuring Artistic Genre Vitality
Closing 9: Quick Reference

Make Arts for a Better Life

A Guide for Working with Communities

Kathleen Van Buren and Brian Shrag

Author Information

Kathleen Van Buren, Honorary Resesarch Fellow, Department of Music, University of Sheffield, and Brian Shrag, International Coordinator, Ethnomusicology & Arts Group, SIL International

Brian Schrag is SIL International's Ethnomusicology and Arts Coordinator, and founder of the Center for Excellence in World Arts (Dallas), a graduate program in applied ethnoarts. He has engaged in sustained arts research and development in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon, and holds a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology (UCLA), an M.A. in Intercultural Studies (Wheaton, IL), and a B.S. in Cognitive Sciences (Brown University). Brian actively promotes artistic creativity for healing and education in communities affected by Huntington's Disease. Kathleen J. Van Buren is an ethnomusicologist with special interests in medical and applied ethnomusicology, arts and social change, and musics of Africa. She is currently Honorary Research Fellow for the Department of Music at the University of Sheffield, where she previously worked as lecturer for ten years (2006-2016). She holds an MA and PhD from the Department of Ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a BA in

English and self-designed BM in ethnomusicology from Lawrence University and Conservatory of Music in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Make Arts for a Better Life

A Guide for Working with Communities

Kathleen Van Buren and Brian Shrag

Reviews and Awards

"In clear language and laudable book structure, Van Buren and Schrag propose a 7-step collaborative method for working with communities to address their own perceived needs. This book would be useful for all kinds of community workers, students, and professionals and the results far more satisfactory than top-down community projects." - Anthony Seeger, Distinguished Professor of Ethnomusicology, Emeritus, UCLA

"Building on a growing body of works and practices that (re)assert the centrality of community in living arts, Schrag and Van Buren pull together an impressive array of thoughts and experiences. The result is an invaluable tool for researchers and facilitators to carefully design, execute and evaluate arts projects in the global complexities of 21st century communities." - Huib Schippers, Director/Curator Folkways Recordings, Smithsonian Institution

Make Arts for a Better Life

A Guide for Working with Communities

Kathleen Van Buren and Brian Shrag

From Our Blog

Cervical cancer and the story-telling cloth in Mali

Around the world, the arts are being used within communities to address local needs. For such projects to be most effective, program participants must: ensure that their program goals are locally-defined; research which art forms, content, and events might best feed into their program goals; develop artistic products that address their goals; and evaluate these products to ensure their efficacy.

Posted on January 12, 2019

Read the blog post