Participatory Art
Lisa Jo Epstein encourages just acts through Just Act, using applied theatre in community development
Philadelphia-based theatre director, educator, and community artist Lisa Jo Epstein has spent 27 years working in the realm of applied theatre. She calls her latest project, Just Act – which recently…
Beth Grossman encourages civic engagement through participatory art
Beth Grossman has worked as an artist full-time for the past 25 years. As a social practice artist, she creates site-specific experiential work designed to engage the public in matters of political…
Public Transformation hits the road
Two months ago, I had no idea that I was going to buy a school bus and travel across the country interviewing rural-based artists - I had no idea that I would need to learn how to insure a converted…
Tia Richardson is an integrative community artist making an impact in Milwaukee
Tia Richardson describes herself as an "integrative community artist." She works as a muralist, teacher, and bridge builder in Milwaukee, leading visual arts projects designed to help heal the…
Imagining New Futures: Artists & Aging Pilot
What is the future for our artists? What is the future for our aging communities? What is the role of arts in aging and policy? In The American Prospect, author Jeff Chang writes, “When artists…
Let's Get To Work
Creative Exchange is the national program of Springboard for the Arts, based in Fergus Falls & Saint Paul, MN. This piece is adapted from the main Springboard website here. Springboard for the…
The Democratic Cup wants to bring people together in conversation over a cup of coffee
It has been nearly two weeks since the 2016 presidential election was called in favor of Donald Trump. In those two weeks there have been protests, riots, and a rash of hate crimes some have said is…
Mural Arts' Porch Light Toolkit
Mural Arts in Philadelphia believes that hands-on art-making provides a strong pathway for individual and community healing. Their Porch Light program, a joint collaboration with the City of…
HOMAGO Toolkit
Do you want to find new ways to engage young people? Try giving them their own space and suporting their creativity. HOMAGO is an acronym for Hang Out, Mess Around, Geek Out, a self-directed…
Making political art great again: t. Rutt takes the T.RUMP bus on the road
In the more light-hearted corners of the Internet, it has been jokingly suggested that Donald Trump's entire bizarre presidential campaign has really just been an elaborate piece of performance art.…
A Super PAC for participatory arts
"Super PAC" is a phrase many of us are probably sick of hearing by now, much like so many other hot-button talking points that have come to define this often preposterous and almost always…
Special Sauce & Agency: Evaluating Work of Art
"I feel like I just got a million dollars worth of guidance!" That's what one artist commented after downloading the Work of Art toolkit. Since the Work of Art toolkit launched as a free resource in…
Exploring the Art of Conversation at the Urban Consulate
What is the art of conversation? A salon is a social gathering to exchange ideas, a celebration of the art of conversation dating back to 16th century Italy, though most closely associated with the…
Microloans help artists build sustainable careers
Blayze Buseth was ready to launch his career as an artist. As a ceramicist, he had received several requests for commissions, particularly for his “Legacy Vessels,” or customized cremation urns. He…
Whithervanes track fear in the media
History will ultimately decide how future generations look back on the 2016 election cycle and general social climate of this time, but there is little question that one of the biggest antagonists in…
MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana Videos
When MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana was approached by Springboard for the Arts through the Creative Exchange Leading Organizations pilot to make the Spanish translation of the…
Dread Scott is a revolutionary artist whose work takes an unflinching look at Black lives in America
In 1857, Dred Scott, an enslaved Black man, unsuccessfully sued for his freedom on the grounds that he, along with his wife and daughters, had lived in free territories for four years. In the…
Fran Ilich believes another world is possible
Fran Ilich grew up in Tijuana next to the San Diego border. As a "border kid" in Mexico, Ilich has spent his life existing in a space somewhere in between – not quite Latin enough for Mexico,…
Friendly Streets: Bottom-up St. Paul project changes the way people look at their city
The following is excerpted from Jay Walljasper’s new book, “America’s Walking Renaissance,” which can be downloaded for free here. This excerpt was initially published by MinnPost. Laughter, lively…
New toolkits from the Leading Organizations!
Creative Exchange is driven by a principle that more is more - the more stories we can tell, the more resources we can share, the more connections we can make, the more we can show how important art…
Find An Artist Toolkit
Artists are everywhere, and have enormous capacity to shape the world around us! This toolkit was created by Springboard for the Arts as a tool to help organizations in finding, commissioning and…
Trabajo de Arte: Aptitudes de Negocios para Artistas
Gracias por su interés en Trabajo de Arte: Aptitudes de Negocios para Artistas. Esto fue hecho por Springboard for the Arts con la ayuda del Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana y las…
HE-HO: A Toolkit for Health and Housing Resources
Everyone needs a place to live, including artists. Artists may also have additional space needs for their work, adding potential barriers to seeking out effective housing and space solutions. One of…
Low-power FM radio shares community voices to a hyperlocal audience
Ohm Radio, Credit Adam Chandler Photography, courtesy of Vikki Matsis On July 7, 2016, radio host Philip Gracia began a live Internet broadcast of WFNU in St. Paul, Minnesota, by saying, “We’re here…
Artist-Designed Bike Rack Toolkit
Metro Arts is a city department responsible for arts and cultural policy & programming in Nashville, TN. Since 2010, Metro Arts has commissioned artist-designed bike racks, resulting in dozens of…
Design Studio for Social Intervention uses design to change the way social justice is imagined
Kenneth Bailey is one of the founders of Boston's Design Studio for Social Intervention (DS4SI), an artistic organization that uses design to change how social justice is imagined, developed, and…
Pillsbury House Theatre breaks the ice and serves the community
What does it mean to be a "community theatre"? What does it mean to be an arts organization "for the community"? When we talk about community, and about arts organizations with deep commitments to…
Michael O'Bryan helps people to find sanctuary in art
Sanctuary is a place of refuge or safety. In urban neighborhoods all throughout America, sanctuary is a luxury almost beyond attainment. But Michael O'Bryan is working to bring that sense of…
Upcycle Parts Shop engages the community though creative reuse
Nicole McGee has been a self-described "reuse artist" for several years, but her practice wasn't always her profession. Her background is in the nonprofit sector, doing work in PR and marketing,…
Sara Daleiden focuses on cultural production and exchange in various roles of public arts leadership
In common use, "cultural exchange" tends to mean an exchange of ideas, customs, or practices between people of different countries. But "culture" isn't simply defined from one country to another; in…