Engagement in the City: How Arts and Culture Impact Development in Urban Areas

(Hardback)

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Engagement in the City: How Arts and Culture Impact Development in Urban Areas provides readers with numerous examples of ways that the arts can contribute to community development. Through the diverse backgrounds of its contributing authors - representing artists, art educators, and public administration scholars the role of arts is explored as a contributing factor in strengthening communities. The book shows that the arts have the potential to positively impact a wide variety of development interests, including economic, education, health, social capital, and of cultural. The book provides strategies and techniques for implementing successful arts-based projects, whether it be through public art initiatives, service-learning opportunities, or the development or cultural districts. Cross-sectoral collaboration is a key in many of these projects, making the book beneficial for artists and community leaders who seek ways to work together to improve their cities.

Reviews

Bobick and Hersey have provided an admirable collection of essays treating the role of the arts in contemporary life. The range of these essays by scholars from a wide gamut of disciplines is, moreover, as impressive as the overall topic is timely. Engagement in the City is a significant contribution to understanding how important art is to modern society.

--Dorothy Joiner, LaGrange College

Engagement in the City: How Arts and Culture Impact Development in Urban Areas is a much-needed book for arts organization administrators and community development leaders. From public arts projects and historical preservation to arts education and cultural exhibitions, nonprofit arts organizations play essential roles in expanding a community's assets. The book's chapters cover a diverse mix of disciplinary perspectives to focus on the why and how of arts organizations. By integrating theory and practice, the book both furthers research on the nonprofit arts industry and provides useful suggestions for how arts organizations can bring people together, build community pride, and encourage innovation through cross sector collaboration.

--Dorothy Norris-Tirrell, Nonprofit Leadership Alliance

Research and scholarship in arts engagement has grown in recent years, reflecting the growing interest in the arts-based community engagement initiatives in the field. This edited volume brings together a wider range of essays that consider economic, sociological, and cultural contributions of the arts in a context of community development. The contributors are drawn from a wide variety of disciplines and geographical origins, which helps widen our perspectives. The book would be invaluable to anyone interested in the arts as well as community development, and of course the interaction of arts and community development in urban areas. More importantly, this edited volume sets a ground for studying civic engagement through the arts.

--Mirae Kim, George Mason University

Author Bio

Leigh N. Hersey is assistant professor and MPA coordinator at the University of Louisiana Monroe.

Bryna Bobick is associate professor of art education at the University of Memphis