Art, Governance and the Turn to Community PUTTING ART AT THE HEART OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT www.rmit.edu.au A report to Australia Council for the Arts on research on the Generations Project 2006—2009 MARTIN MULLIGAN AND PIA SMITH GLOBALISM RESEARCH CENTRE Art, Governance and the Turn to Community PUTTING ART AT THE HEART OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT A report to Australia Council for the Arts on research on the Generations Project 2006—2009 MARTIN MULLIGAN AND PIA SMITH GLOBALISM RESEARCH CENTRE Copyright © 2010 Globalism Research Centre, RMIT University This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Published by Globalism Research Centre www.rmit.edu.au/globalism Art, Governance and the Turn to Community: Putting Art at the Heart of Local Government 1. Mulligan, Martin 2. Smith, Pia ISBN 978-0-9805531-5-4 Cover image: Spirit Birds on Big Rock, M2M Journey’s end Photo: Andrea Rotondella Contents Contents Acknowledgements 6 Executive Summary 8 Key Findings 10 Recommendations to the Australia Council for the Arts 11 Enhancing the CCD sector 12 1. Introduction 14 1.1 Project origins 14 1.2 Project aims 15 1.3 LGA leaders’ assessment of project outcomes 17 1.4 Purpose of the research 18 1.5 Research methodology 20 1.6 Introducing the local Generations projects 22 1.7 Structure of the report 28 1.8 A note on terminology 29 2. From the literature: Setting the framework for analysing the experience 30 2.1 Growing challenges for local government 30 2.2 Local government and the turn to community 34 2.3 Art, community and local governance 40 2.4 Community cultural development and socially-engaged art 45 3. Results of the Council staff survey 52 3.1 Introduction 52 3.2 Importance of arts and culture 52 3.3 Locating the work in Council 53 3.4 Enriching community engagement 55 3.5 Community art and strategic planning 56 3.6 Survey strengths and weaknesses 58 4. Responding to Key Research Question 1: Increasing the strategic importance of community art 60 4.1 Introduction 60 4.2 Project development in Geelong 61 4.3 Project development in Latrobe 63 4.4 Project development in Liverpool 65 4.5 Project development in Wangaratta 69 4.6 Project development in Charters Towers 71 4.7 Embedding the work in Council 73 4.8 Community development and community art 75 4.9 Clarifying focus and aims 76 4.10 The need for an artistic ‘wow factor’ 78 4.11 Evaluating outcomes 79 5. Responding to Key Research Question 2: Building effective partnerships 82 5.1 Introduction 82 5.2 Partnerships at the national level 82 5.3 Partnerships between Council and local organisations 86 5.4 Beyond local organisations 88 5.5 Dealing with cultural differences 89 5.6 Artists learning to work in local government 91 5.7 Leaving a legacy for local government 93 5.8 Artistic leadership 95 5.9 Phases, spaces and ‘network government’ 97 6. Responding to Key Research Question: Community engagement 98 6.1 Introduction 98 6.2 Memory, heritage and stories 99 6.3 Enabling people to use their voices 101 6.4 Ways of organising community input 102 6.5 Creative engagement 103 6.6 Creating inclusive communities 104 6.7 A stronger sense of belonging 105 6.8 Community as a means of local government 106 7. The Evidence for Good Practice 108 7.1 Introduction 108 7.2 Art as the goal not the means 108 7.3 Understanding new ‘tools’ 109 7.4 Methods for collecting evidence of effectiveness 110 7.5 Understanding the ‘physiology’ of good practice 113 7.6 Challenges, risks and evaluating outcomes 116 7.7 A deeper understanding of ‘socially engaged art’ 118 8. Bibliography 122 Appendix 1 126 Social profiles of participating LGAs and their communities 126 Acknowledgements The authors would particularly like to thank John Smithies for his tireless and positive support for our research on this project over a total of four years. Before that, Judy Spokes invited the Globalism Research Centre (GRC) to undertake the research on the national Generations Project, and initially it was GRC member Christopher Scanlon who discussed the research with Judy. Kim Dunphy also provided valuable support for the research project, especially early and late in the process. As researchers we got tremendous support and encouragement from Lynda Newton while she was our contact person at the the Australia Council for the Arts, and we would also like to acknowledge the tremendous support we got from Meme McDonald during the time that she was acting as national artistic advisor for the Generations Project. In particular, Pia has fond memories of field trips undertaken in the company of Meme. In the latter stages of the research Marnie Badham and Mandy Grinblat provided valuable tips on comparable research and relevant literature. Pia would also like to acknowledge GRC colleagues Lisa Slater, James Oliver, and Christopher Ziguras for their valuable tips, suggestions and timely feedback. The research would not have been possible without the sponsorship of the Australia Council, and the authors would like to acknowledge the role played by Frank Panucci over a period of three years in ensuring that the research could proceed smoothly. In the last year of the project we received valuable support and constructive feedback from David Sudmalis at the Australia Council. The authors would like to thank the Australia Council for making it possible for Pia to make a presentation on the research at the Art at the Heart Regional Arts Australia Conference in Alice Springs in October, 2008. Funding for research on the Generations Project came from the Regional Arts Fund, while funding for the local projects came from Australia Council for the Arts, Arts Victoria, the Victorian Government Department of Planning and Community Development, Arts NSW, Arts Queensland, and from participating LGAs. Most of all, we would like to thank all of the project managers, artistic/creative directors, lead artists and project participants in all the five LGA areas for their generosity towards us as researchers and for their courage in allowing us to intrude on their work. We were inspired by your hard work and commitment and by your creative enthusiasm, sustained over a long period of time. We must also thank the LGA CEOs and General Managers who made the local projects and the research possible across the five participating LGAs and we acknowledge the great support we got from key senior staff in each of the five LGAs. It has been a rare pleasure for us as researchers to follow the development of complex, ambitious and often inspirational CCD projects over a period of more than three years, and we have great admiration for the skilled CCD practitioners we have been able to observe at close quarters and through many trials and tribulations. We were constantly inspired by people in many roles who demonstrated a passionate commitment to the strengthening of local communities. We are convinced that the Generations Project has been able to demonstrate the strategic importance of CCD for effective local government in Australia, and, in the process, it given us a deeper understanding of what good practice in this field looks like. It has been worth the investment of time, money and effort over the full stretch of four years to create such a robust and enduring educational resource. Martin Mulligan and Pia Smith, March 2010. 6 Executive Summary As an ‘action research’ project over a period of more than three years, the Generations Project has been remarkably successful in finding out what it takes to ensure that community art practices can enrich the practice of local government in Australia. This comes at a time when the building of resilient and inclusive local communities has become even more clearly part of the ‘core business’ of local government internationally. Indeed, local government authorities that do not find creative ways to constantly build more inclusive communities will pay a considerable ‘price’ in having to deal with growing social division and conflict, often reflecting much broader, global developments and tensions. Community art projects and programs can enhance the core business of local government provided local government leaders understand that good practice in community art involves considerable skill and a deep understanding of artistic processes. The national Generations Project was first conceived in 2004 by Cultural Development Network Director Judy Spokes and the former CEO of the City of Port Philip Council (in Melbourne) Anne Dunn. By this time a wide range of local government authorities (LGAs) across Australia had sponsored significant community art and cultural development projects and events and it was evident that successful artistic and cultural activities could build a stronger sense of community at a local level. Many people in local government could see that the arts had a vital role to play in creating more coherent and dynamic local communities and yet this kind of work remained marginal in local government structures and processes. Spokes and Dunn came up with a proposal for an action learning project that could address questions such as: What would it take to convince LGA leaders to take community art and cultural development much more seriously? and Where should this kind of work be situated within LGA structures and processes? A wide range of LGAs were invited to participate in designing and implementing- over a period of three years-a program of artistic activities that could help the LGA address a significant and pressing social challenge and the project was implemented in the following LGAs: City of Greater Geelong, Latrobe City, Rural City of Wangaratta (Victoria), Liverpool City (in Sydney) and the Charters Towers Regional Council (Queensland).