About us
What is ArtWorks Alliance?
A self-organising Community of Practice for people who are actively involved in using creativity to achieve positive social change and who believe in the transformative power of creative processes.
Who is the Alliance for?
Our members:
- want to share experiences, ideas, opportunities and understanding of their work in effecting positive change in social and community settings.
- recognise the dual importance of artistic and social aspirations and are committed to sustaining and developing both their own part in this practice, and the sector as a whole, in a spirit of mutual support.
- recognise we are experiencing an environmental and ecological crisis and are interested in being part of a collective effort to limit further damage, addressing the causes and impact of climate breakdown.
I have truly valued and appreciated my time as a member with Artworks Alliance. I have gained a wealth of support, knowledge and resources to support my career as part of this network. It is incredibly valuable to be able to talk, share and network with other social practitioners across the art and cultural sectors.
Member survey respondent, 2023
Find all the details about how to contribute to and benefit from belonging on our Join in page.
What we value…
- spaces for reflection, learning, sharing, and creating, that sit in the sweet spot between safety and bravery.
- openness and honesty in our discussions and our work
- a culture that embraces diversity, respects our differences and different needs, and works to achieve equity for all.
What the Alliance does
The Alliance acts as both host and guest to create opportunities for sharing and discussing participatory, socially engaged, and community arts practices, through:
• in-person or online gatherings
• written, audio and other creative outputs.
• informal peer support opportunities.
We are a conduit for resources, be that toolkits and templates, in-kind support or micro-bursaries, and use a networked approach to generously respond to need.
We use our collective voice and influence to advocate for change within the cultural sector and society.
Who should be involved?
Anyone can join the Alliance, and we value the range of professional and personal experiences our members bring. In a typical Gathering you might expect to come across:
- a grassroots arts organisation,
- an ‘engagement’ worker for a big institution,
- an independent practitioner,
- a freelancer, a student, a teacher, or a researcher,
- and a whole range of artists and activists involved in participatory arts, community arts, socially engaged, social arts, creative activism, community cultural development, and asset based cultural and community development.
In 2024
Artworks Alliance is taking the theme of “Crossing Boundaries” for its gatherings, blogs, podcasts etc—what does it mean to work and to think across boundaries, to be interdisciplinary. Our three gatherings will focus on creative placemaking; on cross art-form work, and on working across national boundaries.
The first gathering of the year will be on Tuesday March 19th
Join ArtWorks Alliance now! Details of our ‘Pay as You Can’ membership fees on our Join in page.
So important for us to connect and network in these challenging times – together we are stronger.
Survey respondent, 2023
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Where we have come from
ArtWorks Alliance follows on from a seven-year intervention by Paul Hamlyn Foundation (PHF) into the state of training and professional development for artists working in participatory settings.
In 2008 and 2009, the Foundation consulted with artists, training providers and employers, on the nature of participatory practice; key skills required; gaps in training and development provision; and potential interventions. Concerned about the lack of widely accessible and relevant high quality education, training and development opportunities for artists working in participatory settings, PHF set up ArtWorks: Developing Practice in Participatory Settings.
ArtWorks: Developing Practice in Participatory Settings ran from 2011 – 2015 as a Paul Hamlyn Foundation Special Initiative with funding and support from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, Creativity, Culture & Education (supported by Arts Council England) and the Cultural Leadership Programme.
The aim of ArtWorks was to support the initial education, training and continuing professional development of artists working in participatory settings in order to enhance the quality of people’s engagement in arts-led activity and the arts, and create a more professional and confident sector whose work is valued.
ArtWorks supported an online community of practice, organised events, commissioned publications and worked with key stakeholders to advocate for arts in participatory settings and appropriate support for artists. A key element of the programme was the work of pathfinders which were selected through an open bidding process to undertake action research between 2011 and 2014.
One pathfinder, Artworks Navigator (a-n The Artists Information Company, Artquest, engage, National Association of Writers in Education, People Dancing, Sound Sense), subsequently developed a proposal to take the key activities of ArtWorks forward in the form of ArtWorks Alliance – building on the legacy of a huge knowledge bank of learning, the results of all ArtWorks activity over the years.
ArtWorks Alliance was initiated in 2015 with funding from Paul Hamlyn Foundation and in 2019 became collectively self-funded through contributions from 40 partners and associates. In 2020, the network moved to an open membership model and grew substantially. Current members can be found here.
