Hand-in Hand, Building

Community on Common
Ground
I was fourteen months on the street and before that,
five years in the Marines. I came down here [Charlotte]
to find work in construction. The city's growing so you'd
think there'd be work; but there are more than enough
workers. I hated being on the street...I hate the way that
people act like people want to sleep under bushes in the
middle of winter It's wrong that homelessness is a crime.
When you haven't gota place to stay everywhere you sleep
and rest is trespassing. I've always been an artist. When I
was on the street, Urban Ministries was my studio. I have
a job now and an apartment and my studio is in my new
space. (Matt, 2006)

BY P A M E L A H A R R I S L A W T O N

ART EDUCATION / November 2010

Matt's experience highlights a

service-learning project n which
participants' perceptions of homelessness
and community were examined through
quiltmaking and collecting oral histories.
The purpose of this research was three-fold:
first, to encourage preservice art teachers
and emerging studio artists to reach out
to the community beyond the university
campus and connect their art praxis and
pedagogical skills to real-world situations;
second, for the homeless who participated, to
dispel stereotypes ascribed to the homeless
and homelessness through an art-based
reciprocal learning relationship; and third,
to provide students with a broader conception of art education by promoting lifelong
learning through and with art as manifested
in community settings. This project helped
students understand that art education is not
confined to formal academic institutions but
spans art learning from "womb to tomb."
Shortly after I began teaching at the
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
(UNCC), Frances Hawthorne, one of the
studio faculty, approached me to work on a
community-based art project with students.
Frances is a social justice artist who works
collaboratively with marginalized groups
such as the homeless and inmates at the
Mecklenburg County Jail. My own artmaking
and research interests involve the collaborative creation of "artstories,"' narrative art
forms that reinterpret, explore, and preserve
family/community history, identity, and
ntergenerational relationships. Our collaboration resulted in the story quilt project
described here.

Community-Based Art Education

Community may be defined as a body of
people coming together for the benefit of
the group as a whole. The act of exchange
among participants in a community can
be empowering as voices are heard and
valued as equally important. Definitions of
community-based art education include;
community art projects that teach art skills,
public art that involves interaction among
the artist(s) and members of the community, service-learning art projects that unify
communities with diverse populations, and
outreach programs designed to empower the
disenfranchised (Adejumo, 2000; BallengeeMorris, 2000; Congdon, Blandy, & Bolin

Art educators are often at the forefront

of community-based art activities, whether
the community involved is that of the school
or beyond (Bastos, 2002). The art educator's role is to facilitate the development of
artistic skills, knowledge, and appreciation
and to promote the use of artmaking to
communicate with and make sense of the
world in which we live. Art educators should
be concerned with teaching their students
to make "critical connections between what
they encounter outside of class, and what
they see, do, and learn in the art classroom"
(Bolin, 2000, p. 4). In other words, the classroom should be viewed as connected to, not
separate from, the outside world (Anderson
& Milbrandt, 2005). One very effective
way to make these critical connections is
providing students with the opportunity
to engage in community-based/public art
endeavors.

The Role of Narrative in CommunityBased Art Education

Community-based/public art can be

a means to enhance traditional goals for
teaching art while promoting social justice
education, a crucial aspect of communitybased art education (Garber, 2006; Ulbricht,
2005). These projects can involve students
in thinking critically about social issues
that impact all segments of society, such as
environmental issues or empowering the
disenfranchised (Emme, 1998; Freir, 1993).
Garber (2006) notes.

Integration of Classroom and

Community

Students learn to reflect and act on

the world to transform it, burrowing
into foundations, ideologies, and
deeper meanings of political and
social phenomena. Ihey see how our
social worldsincluding art worlds
recreate social injustices. With this
understanding as a base, students can
consciously work for social justice
through involvement and action, (p. 29)
Because our purpose in conducting this
project was to develop collaborative partnerships between UNCC students, the homeless,
university faculty, and the Urban Ministry
Center (UMC) staff by creating new learning
experiences and understandings through art,
establishing a rapport among all participants was crucial. This goal was primarily
accomplished through a series of site visits,
interviews, and informal conversations with
all involved.

Experiential learning and narrative forms

of communicationwritten, oral, visual, and
performedprovide a forum for sharing
cultural understandings and finding connections with others (Lawton, 2004, 2008).
According to Desai (2001), our reasons for
conducting oral/life history interviews were:
To uncover the "normally hidden histories
and stories of marginalized social and
cultural groups in our society" (p. 72).
As an "act of exchange" which can be an
empowering and collaborative process for
both interviewer and interviewee (p. 75).
As a method of focusing on "the connection between the stories told by those we
interview[ed] and our stories (researchers)
in the final artworks we create[d]"
(pp. 86-87).

According to Gillis (1992), integrating

classroom and community involves five
chronological phases or stages of action. In
phase one, the art educator conducts activities to help students examine their inner
biases regarding the community they plan
to collaborate with. The teacher develops
discussion prompts to discover what students
already know, or think they know, about the
community they will work with. Activities
include readings, discussion, guest speakers,
and classroom visits to the community.
Brainstorming questions are asked, such as,
"How might we utilize art to learn from one
another?" This phase is crucial in addressing
students' fears, prejudices, stereotypes,
biases, and expectations about the community they will work with. The teacher
could begin by having students write their
responses anonymously to questions such as:
What do I think homelessness is? How do
people become homeless? What do I think
homeless people are like? The teacher can
then collect these responses and use them as
the basis for a classroom discussion.
In phase two, the class examines where
their thoughts and feelings come from:
personal experience, opinions of influential
family and friends, the media, and mainstream culture. From here a discussion about
the importance of personal investigation
into students' attitudes about a particular

2001; Irwin & Kindler, 1999; Ulbricht, 2005).

November 2010 / ART EDUCATION

Community becomes vitalfinding out

for themselves what they think and why
(Congdon, Underberg, & Van Wagenen,
2004). After a thorough self-examination,
students are ready for phase three, discovering for themselves what is true and what is
opinion and speculation. Students research
the facts by "examining realistic portrayals of
people in the community through readings,
film and interviews" (Gillis, 1992, p. 12).
Phase four is investigation through activity
that challenges assumptions by spending
quality time working with the community
being studied. Creating community-based art
education connections can instill in students
a "respect for a variety of lifestyles, concern
for human rights, and empowerment of all
participating groups" (Marche, 1998, p. 8).
Through community outreach students may
become empowered and more socially and
politically aware. They learn to look outward,
beyond their life as members of a family and
students in a school to life as citizens of a
community and a world in which their voice
and actions may be both personally and
socially transformative.

Service-Learning in Community-Based
Art Education
The roots of service-learning pedagogy can
be traced back to ancient Greece. The classical, modern, and progressive educational
philosophies espoused by Plato, Aristotle,
Locke, Kant, Mill, Rousseau, and Dewey,
center on the connection between moral/
character education and the development of
citizens prepared to serve the community
(Rocheleau, 2004). According to Rocheleau,
These philosophers envisioned university graduates prepared to contribute
to the alleviation of human suffering,
the insurance of human rights, and the
development of a productive society...
although these classic theories delineated community service as a goal of
education, the idea unique to servicelearningthat community service
should be part of the educational
curriculum itselfhas more recent
roots, (p. 4)

ART EDUCATION / November 2010

As a curricular tool, service-learning

makes use of formal, academic learning
within real-world settings, providing
students with an opportunity to apply what
they have learned to the benefit of themselves, their collaborators, and the wider
society. The resultant learning is reciprocal.
"Community members and the students are
each 'serving' and 'being served' by the other
and each is benefiting and learning from the
other" (Russell & Hutzel, 2007, p. 8). Both
individual and group reflection is a crucial
component of success (Taylor & BallengeeMorris, 2004).
"Within the field of art education,
service-learning is framed as a community
art practice to create social reconstruction and learn from community practices"
(Hutzel, as cited in Russell & Hutzel, 2007,
p. 8). Service-learning within art education
"makes use of an individual's gifts, skills, and
capacities in contributing toward participatory artmaking" (Russell & Hutzel, 2007,
p. 8). This 'collaborate-and-create' method
"includes teaching students the materials
and techniques of the art form selected for
the project and helping them to deal with
related practical issues, such as time and
budget constraints" (Russell & Hutzel, 2007,
p. 8). Within the scope of our project, the
collaborate-and-create method was utilized
to work with art/art education students and
faculty well versed in photography, quilting,
and printmaking techniques and UMC staff
and neighbors to collaborate on the creation
of two art quilts, one for the Urban Ministry
Center and one for the university.
Ethnographic and narrative inquiry were
employed to examine the ways in which
collaborative artmaking and oral history
gathering impacted participants' perceptions of community and homelessness at
the UMC. Oral/life history interviews were
conducted with the homeless to understand the significance and meaning of the
homeless experience in terms of memory of
past life, present situation, and the future.
The quilts themselves served as a physical
and metaphorical representation of the
homeless community. The collaborate-andcreate method of service-learning was used
to collectively plan and execute the project.
Interviews, photography, and observation
notes were employed to observe interaction
among participants and document perceptions, interaction, and the project in general.

The Urban Ministry Center (UMC)

The UMC is an interfaith organization in
the Charlotte, North Carolina area dedicated
to alleviating poverty and homelessness
through a variety of services such as hot
meals, showers, and counseling. A trained
staff and a large network of volunteers
support the center. In addition to these
services, enrichment programs are offered in
art, gardening, and soccer to feed the spirit
and build confidence and independence.
When Frances and I visited, construction
was nearing completion on a new building
adjacent to the historic train depot where the
UMC was currently housed. We met with the
directors to discuss ideas for collaborative
art activities that would celebrate the center
and its community of neighbors,^ staff, and
volunteers. We settled on the idea of a story
quilt triptych that would capture the spirit of
the UMC community as exemplified by the
Community Works programs that bring the
neighbors, volunteers, staff, and the community together.
This initial visit provided me with an
opportunity to examine my own preconceptions regarding homelessness. Our perceptions of people and places develop early in
life and are colored by media portrayals and
the attitudes and opinions of the people
who influence, socialize, and educate us.
During that first visit, I toured the facilities
and more importantly met several of the
neighbors considered the bedrock of the
UMC community. In addition to helping
newcomers negotiate their way through the
menu of services provided, they have specific
communal responsibilities, such as assisting
with the Community Works programs and
helping maintain the grounds and buildings.
Establishing a rapport with these community
leaders and getting their support to help
garner interest in the project was key to its
success.

Within the scope of our servicelearning project, students

spoke about the people they
met, interacted with, learned
from, and got to know, not the
homeless they wanted to 'help.'

The Project
The nature of the homeless community at
the UMC is mainly transient: While there
are a few neighbors who regularly take
meals there and volunteer, most are passing
through. Our goal was to encourage as
many as possible to participate. We decided
the best way to do this was to set up a table
on the sidewalk in front of the train depot
building and directly across from the meal
line. We provided snacks and a variety of
art materials that could be used on the 8 by
10-inch cloth squares we planned to incorporate into the quilt. As people, mostly males,
wandered over for a doughnut, we explained
why we were there and invited them to sit at
the table with us and orally, in writing, and/
or visually describe their relationship to,
and impressions of the UMC community.
In this way many people became involved
and shared their life stories with us. One
participant told us that life was beautiful and
that she was grateful to be alive; both she
and her fianc were homeless and took meals
at the UMC. Her sentiment comes through
clearly on the quilt square she created.
I hese individual squares were incorporated into the 9 by 10-foot quilt depicting
the Community Works building, the new
building, and neighbors and staff engaged

in activities supported by the center, such

as soccer, gardening, and the collaborative
public artworks created by the neighbors on
the grounds and walls around the buildings.
For 6 weeks, we spent 3 hours each day
from 9:00 a.m. to noon when lunch was
served, working on the quilt and talking.
During one session, art education student
Rebecca Aranyi brought her 10-year-old twin
boys with her. They played checkers with
some of the neighbors and experienced the
importance of service-learning and community engagement. As we worked we talked
about what the quilt would look likewhat
was important to include. We began to feel
a part of the community and were warmly
welcomed as we began each session. Any
fears or apprehension we may have initially
felt dissipated as we worked with and got to
know the neighbors.
Once all the data (artwork and interviews) were collected, researchers and
students met on campus to begin piecing
the quilt together. During different periods
the UMC quilt was taken to the center so
those who wanted could participate in the
actual stitching. BFA photography student
Meredith Jones took portrait photos of
all the neighbors whose oral histories we
gathered and these photos became the basis

for the portraits in the UNCC quilt we made

honoring the neighbors we met. This quilt
was made by the students and researchers,
but showcases the narratives and artworks
(paintings, drawings, sculpture, installations,
and poetry) of each neighbor as a part of
their portrait "window" on the quilt.

Empowerment through Artstory

Quilting
How can quilting become an empowering act? In American history, quilts were
precious commodities made of discarded
scrap material and were a source of warmth
and comfort. They contained tangible narrative memories from the scraps of material
and the quilters who created them. Before
the advent of textile mills, those skilled
in sewing were endowed with a sense of
"power"... and the communal act of quilting
in quilting bees composed of several skilled
seamstresses (mostly women made quilts in
America) became a place to share stories,
skill, advice, and comfort (Simpson, 2003).
Quilters use symbols to tell stories and
personalize quilts to reflect the creator's life
and times. Artstory quiltniaking encourages
the development of social as well as personal
transformation within the framework of
reciprocal learning relationships. Within
the scope of our service-learning project,
students spoke about the people they met,
interacted with, learned from, and got to
know, not the homeless they wanted to 'help.'
Through this experience those of us from the
university were able to re-examine our beliefs
and attitudes regarding the homeless and see
homelessness as a condition, not an identity.

Working on Quilt Squares while waiting tor iunch.

Author working with neighbors on Quilt Squares.

N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0 / A R T EDUCATION

Lite's StoryUNCC Quilt.

Sample Quilt Square made with oil pastels and markers for fabric.

With social transformation, personal

empowerment is key to emancipatory
learning and eventually societal transformation. Participants' comments during oral
history interviews and the informal conversations that took place during artmaking
suggested that the process of creating art and
communicating on a broad scale through a
visual voice left many feeling empowered.

awi wv^l- r"-^ but 1 b'

Annie's portrait superinposed on one of her paintings.

10

ART EDUCATION / November 2010

My Vaddy pulled me out of school in

fourth grade to work in the cotton fields
so I don't read and write much... but I
been making pictures as long as I can
remember. Mostly people call my pictures
abstract. I don't call them that. In my
pictures I see all sorts of things... angels,
rabbits, water towers, trains, houses...
pretty much everything I see in the world
around me. I had a stroke not long ago.
My left side is paralyzed but I get around
all right. I'm right-handed so I can still
paint and draw as long as I have supplies.
(Annie, 2006)
/ very much enjoy artistic activities like
dancing, gardening and drawing. I also
like to express my unique personality
through the clothing I wear, which is
colorful like my character. I have had some
difficulties and have been greatly helped
by the staff at Urban Ministries, but I also
like helping others. (Luiz, 2006) '

above and right

Two views of the Urban Ministry
Quilt (9 X 10 feet).

Conclusions
Overall the project met our goals. The
collaborate-and-create method of servicelearning enabled students to apply their
knowledge of teaching, learning, and studio
processes to create a narrative dialogue,
through artstory quiltmaking and oral
history interviews, with members of the
homeless community. The UMC neighbors
learned about quilting and created new
friendships with their artstory collaborators. The quilt itself, which hangs in a
prominent space at the UMC, provided many
with a visual voice that left them feeling
empowered. All participants broadened
their conception of art education to include
lifelong learning with, through, and in the
arts outside of formal institutions of learning.
The university established a relationship
with the UMC that will hopefully expand to
include other programs.
In thinking about what I learned as a
participant in this experience, what stands
out most is that everyone has a voice they
want to be heard. Listening to the voices of
others is one very important way in which
we learn. We connect with, teach, and
learn from others by sharing our experiences through narratives that take many
formsartstory quilting is one. As facilitators of learning, our role as educators and
researchers is to find the connecting threads
within these narratives and weave them into
a common language shared and appreciated by several generations of community,
spanning a variety of settings, cultures.

genders, and socio-economic strata, creating

a rich tapestry of people, voices, and images.
Collaborative forms of narrative expression
can open communication, build respect,
and develop understanding and appreciation of differences. These skills are essential
both in life and in art education. Creating
community-based art education connections
instills in students a "respect for a variety
of lifestyles, concern for human rights, and
empowerment of all participating groups"
(March, 1998, p. 8). Through community
outreach students become empowered,
more socially and politically aware, looking
outward, beyond their life as members of
a family and students in a school to life as
citizens of a community and a world in
which their voice and actions may be both
personally and socially transformative.
Pamela Harris Lawton is Director,
Education Studies, and Assistant Professor
of Art Education at the Corcoran College of
Art and Design, Washington, DC. E-mail:
plawton@corcoran.org

REFERENCES
Adejumo, C. O. (2000). Community-based art.
School Arts, 99(6), 12-13.
Anderson, T, & Milbrandt, M. (2005). Art for
life: Authentic instruction in art. New York:
McGraw-Hill.
Ballengee Morris, C. (2000). Mountain culture:
No hillbillies here. In D. Fehr, K. Fehr, & K.
Keifer-Boyd (Eds.). Real-world readings in art
education: Things your professor never told you
(pp. 55-64). New York: Falmer Press.
Barakett, ]., & Sacca, E. ). (2002). Narratives
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issues in art education (pp. 39-50). Upper
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Bastos, F. M. C. (2002). Making the familiar
strange: A community-based art education
framework. In Y. Gaudelius & P. Speirs (Eds.).
Contemporary issues in art education (pp.
70-83). Upper Saddle River, NI: Prentice Hall.
Bolin, P. (2000). Art education in and beyond the
classroom. Art Hducation, 53(5), 4-5.
Bruner, I. (1990). Acts of meaning. Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press.
Congdon, K., Blandy, D., & Bolin, P. (Eds.). (2001).
Histories of community-based art education. Reston, VA: National Art Education
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Congdon, K., Underberg, N., & Van Wagenen, S.
(2004). Linking generations through film and
foodways. In A. LaPorte (Ed.). Community
connections: lntergenerational links in art
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Art Education Association.

November 2010 / ART EDUCATION

11

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ART EDUCATION / November 2010

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Lawton, P. H. (2008). Artstories: Narrative construction in intergenerational and transformative
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ENDNOTES
^ Artstories is a term I initially established to
describe my personal artmaking processes: a
combination of visual imagery and verbal text
in the form of fine art prints, artists' books and
assemblages that preserve, explore, and reinterpret
family history, identity, and intergenerational
relationships. The term was later expanded upon
from the personal and individual to the general
and collective. In this context, artstories describes
the process of combining oral, written, visual, and
performed narratives into artworks representative
of a multiplicity of generational voices on issues
related to the coming of age within a multicultural
society and those common rites of passage associated with being in and passing through the various
stages of psycho-social development as defined b>'
Erik Erikson. Thus, artstory is a conceptual term
that can be used to define one's personal search for
identity and meaning through art and story, or a
group's collaborative exploration for communal,
intergenerational, and multicultural understanding
through sharing oral histories, writing collaborative identity pieces that examine life themes
related to psycho-social development, and visually
illustrating them as a group. These artstories are
then later exhibited, read/performed for others as
a means of furthering multicultural/communal
understanding through art/story sharing.
2 The UMC uses the term "neighbor(s)" in lieu of
"homeless."
^This study was approved by the UNCC
Institutional Review Board. Participants signed
releases granting permission for the use of their
names, words, and images.

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