SHIFTING EXPECTATIONS: AN URBAN PLANNER’S REFLECTIONS ON EVALUATING COMMUNITY-BASED ARTS
Submitted by Tommer on November 2, 2009
Based on 13 years of national research on integrating arts and culture into concepts of healthy communities, Senior Research Associate with the Urban Institute Maria Rosario Jackson observes how sound and worthy community arts programs with social and civic intention are often saddled with unrealistic expectations about the impacts that they might have on a community and the ways in which such impacts might be proved. In this paper, Jackson argues for a shift toward more realistic expectations of social impact and evaluation of arts-based civic engagement both on the part of practitioners and funders.