Winter Intensive: Artists Working in Community

Winter Intensive returns, starting January 26, 2023!

Artists Working in Community is a three-part, bi-weekly series led by Springboard for the Arts’ Community Development Director, Ricardo Beaird, and Community Development Program Manager, Amanda Cortés.

Using Springboard for the Arts’ Handbook for Artists Working in Community as a guide, Beaird and Cortés will push artists to think about their own passions and goals when it comes to working with communities in the public realm. Honoring the handbook’s definitions of public art and artist, this series will demonstrate how artists can facilitate community-led projects, share best practices for community-engaged work, and develop collaboration skills.

This will be a dynamic, activity-based series with possible homework assignments between sessions. Attendees will be expected to participate and be present throughout the program.

Sessions will be held online via Zoom on Thursdays from 4:00 – 6:00 PM ET, January 26, February 9, and February 23, 2023.

About Springboard for the Arts
Founded in 1991, Springboard for the Arts works at the intersection of arts and economic and community development, helping local artists and communities thrive together. Our mission is to cultivate vibrant communities by connecting artists with the resources they need to make a living and a life. We define artists broadly, from any and all disciplines and experiences, from culture bearers and craft artists to classically trained, from those who receive commissions to those who sing in choir or carve spoons – recognizing that creative people are in every community and on every block in a city or few acres in a rural area.

As a national leader in creative community development, our approach is rooted in the principles of community organizing and focuses on a “lots of little” strategy that surfaces unrecognized leaders in communities, builds public narratives from a multiplicity of perspectives and voices; unearths and supports community health and economic vibrancy; and, creates low-risk on ramps for cross-sector collaboration. This equity-based model centers the lives and experiences of the people in and of the place; values the relationships, partnerships, and creative capacity that artists and communities build together and aims to build power and agency for individuals, neighborhoods and communities. We deliver programs locally and catalyze action nationally by sharing our adaptable strategies through free toolkits, consulting services, workshops and trainings.