Meaning and Making: Laying the Groundwork for Community-Based Research-Creation

Abstract

Research-creation practices have long consulted the public in the process of research, yet the act of making often rests in the hands of the individual researcher. This paper proposes a more integrated and collaborative framework for arts-based researchers and educators called Community-Based Research-Creation, which extends the collaborative logic of oral history into the realm of creation by encouraging art educators to develop focused and prolonged workshops and classes with community. I draw from my own practice as a community art teacher working primarily with adults and propose methods and frameworks for developing community-engaged studies using artworks.