Art in the Community

Community Art and Organizing : How can art be used to enact positive, lasting social change?

ArtiCulture works to bring the arts to communities in influential ways.  Through both short- and long-term partnerships, we are able to ensure the arts are accessible to people from all walks of life.  We have worked with affordable housing organizations, neighborhood groups, community development nonprofits, theatres, drop-in centers, people with development disabilities, local businesses, Minneapolis schools, libraries, and more. 

Our community ownership approach to public art projects includes crosscultural, diverse socio-economic and multi-generational experiences. Working alongside professional artists in the creative development of the piece empowers participants to learn about community organizing and philosophy, citizenship, collective decision-making, and the ways art and community organizing can work together to bring about social change, building invaluable self-esteem, confidence and lifelong leadership skills.

Want to use art in your community program, after-school activity, or other opportunity? Send an email of inquiry to info@articulture.org.

Current and Ongoing Efforts:

- This year we are partnering with People Incorporated, an organization that services adults with mental illness. The MN State Arts Board recently awarded the grant funding needed to have ongoing art classes during fall and winter as a secure and inviting space dedicated to this client population. 

-Through Legacy Arts Funding received by the libraries, both Hennepin and Dakota counties are having ArtiCulture offer teen class programming at selected library sites in the Metro area this summer.

- We are part of a community consortium to reestablish the Seward Montessori School Peace Garden and help create curriculum through an artist-residency. Community arts programming during summer months, centered around the garden, is also is part of their request.

- Special Events with : Tubman West, a number of Minneapolis public schools, Jeremiah Program

- Art Festivals with: Seward King's Fair, Powderhorn Art Fair, Flint Hill International Children's Festival

- Educational Lectures : Involving children in creative art activities goes far beyond just being about “art for art’s sake”. Our presentations give an overview to parents and educators about how the arts affect children in their everyday life and enhances their abilities in academic performance. Click here to ready more.

Previous Work:

Arts and Healing

In 2010 and 2011 ArtiCulture and Wayside House, a treatment center devoted exclusively to gender-specific needs of low-income women, partnered to show their in-house clients how the arts can enhance their recuperative behaviors. The two organizations were awarded $20,000 by the State Arts Board to enable a full year of arts programming. This project used visual arts, poetry and journaling as a tool for personal discovery, reflection and healing.

Art Slam

ArtiCulture introduced the ArtSlam Project in 2006 to address issues of literacy, community and personal/social issues and growth in at risk youth. ArtSlam is an annual grant funded project where literary/spoken word and visual artists work with teens at community sites in Minneapolis and St. Paul to create performance poetry in conjunction with visual arts. We have partnered with several schools, libraries, community centers and nonprofit transitional housing for homeless youth.

Along with spoken word exercises and poetry writings incorporating personal life experiences and the participants sense of self—students create artists books, artist trading cards, and other visual arts projects where they then apply the written form of their poems in conjunction with a visual arts component.

Showcasing the culmination of their work, participants from these individual sites then gather at the Minneapolis Central Library for an Open Mic night grand finale. Students have the opportunity to present their poetry created in class while they get to see their literary instructors in action for an open mic performance and dialog. In addition, the students' visual art creations are on display during the event.

Community Murals

Click here to read more about our mural projects.

2011 : Seward Market Community Mural

2009 : Seward Community Mural

Artists with Disabilities

In 2008 ArtiCulture and Partnership Resources Inc. (PRI) embarked on a project to bring artists with disabilities to our studio classrooms. PRI, an organization that creates day programming for adults with mental and physical disabilities, started an arts enrichment program a number of years ago for their clients. Over time PRI found that they lacked studio space and a sense of connection to an artistic community, with classes held in the organization’s hallways and occasional coffee cafes. The lack of real studio space started to become extremely limiting, especially for some of their more dedicated artists. Utilizing our facility has been a truly freeing experience for these artists who no longer have to worry about "making a mess" and find our handicapped accessible sinks to be a luxury.

School Residencies

ArtiCulture is committed to providing meaningful experiences through the arts that effect student educational outcomes. Our artist-in-residency programs are flexible to the needs of individual schools. Past residencies included: bookmaking with literary arts and bookmaking with math skills; an all-grades residency for a Minneapolis charter school for homeless children where school was their one constant.

Arts and Affordable Housing

ArtiCulture has been working with CommonBond Communities to bring arts programming to affordable housing sites they administer in the Twin Cities.  In this setting, the arts engage people who don't have many opportunities to creatively explore. We have a long history working with Seward Towers East and West, affordable housing sites that are home to many East African refugees.