| dc.description.abstract | This dissertation presents the transformative potential of community art
collectives and outlines the pedagogical practices and decisions that contribute to their
impact in the community. The research took place in Thunder Bay, a small urban
community of roughly 110 000 people in Northwestern Ontario. Building on existing
literature and research on critical civic praxis I explored the relevance of this concept in
collective community arts settings. My research found artists engaged in praxis (the
interplay of critical reflection and practice), their actions informed by an understanding of
systemic oppression affecting their lives as they engaged in re-creating the world in order
to transform it.
This is an arts-informed qualitative research study. Research data includes
interviews with 17 members of the artist community, enriched by my own experiences
with the arts and artist community in Thunder Bay. At the intersection of collective
space, public space, and art I developed an understanding of the relationship between arts
and collective organizing in supporting critical civic praxis as everyday politics. The
transformation discussed by participants is connected to their worldviews and their social,
political, and geographic location. In order to understand this transformative work I have
described the space these artists inhabit, the forms of oppression they encounter, and the
practices that transformed their community. The pedagogical roots that feed participants’
work are authenticity, trust, humility, relationship (love), and critical reflection. | en_US |
