(Formerly Working with Groups in Community Settings: From Theory to Practice) Whether you are a filmmaker looking to better understand how to build a cohesive and productive film crew; a theatre maker excited about building a performance project or theatre company; a multi-media artist looking for ways to innovate your ideas for artistic work in collaboration with others; an artist looking for tools for building an artistic ensemble, or a multi-disciplinary artist looking to take your creative work out into communities as social practice, this class provides you with tools for better understanding how to enter into and engage others in collective creative work with purpose. Multi-Disciplinary Arts Practice with Community Groups: Theories and Practice, is a place to explore what it means to make artistic work of meaning with others and the tools needed to create meaningful collaborative projects. In this class we interrogate our definitions of “community” and “group” and explore what has meaning to us when creating artistic work as a collective of artists, in order to strengthen our own artistic voices and help raise the creative voices of others. With a focus on social practice, this course provides a foundation for working with small group structures in a variety of community settings. This course also provides students interested in exploring social practice or those interested in providing community service through the arts, with a foundation for working with small group structures in a variety of community settings. Students will gain a basic understanding of the theories of social work with groups, as they apply to arts-based groups. Social and cultural contexts for community-focused arts practice, stages of group development, conflict and difference among group members and between members and facilitator, and an overview of group member’s needs will be discussed in relation to entering into and engaging a group or ensemble in the creative process.
Open Arts Curriculum (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks
Sections (Spring 2023)
OART-UT 1017-000 (14245)01/23/2023 – 05/08/2023 Thu9:00 AM – 12:00 AM (Morning)at Washington SquareInstructed by Bitel, Mary