The question: whom do you walk with? Was put to me as a way to reflect on the history of my practice as a community engaged artist over the last part of the twentieth century living on the west coast of Canada. This interactive research space is an attempt to respond to an alternative notion of history and the influences on this art form over the course of thirty years. It also seeks to acknowledge the communities of people this art practice allied itself with. These people and their communities often lived outside and beyond the margins of the national narrative of history and its parade.
It is my hope this site offers a pedagogical space that invites students, researchers, educators, artists, and others to consider the questions that populate and characterize socially engaged arts practice and arts based research. The author’s reflections and writings captured at the roots of this reflection range from videos, poetic inquiry, reports, and scholarly essays on the nature of my experience of working in this field.
This research project was supported by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada with Simon Fraser University’s Art for Social Change Research Project.
Author and Creator: Patti Fraser
Visual Research Design: Flick Harrison
