Arts Based Community Development
Arts Based Community Development (ABCD) is “arts-centered activity that contributes to the sustained advancement of human dignity, health or productivity within a community.”
The arts and cultural sector play an important role in civil society. ABCD activities aim to:
- Educate and Inform us about ourselves and the world
- Inspire and Mobilize individuals or groups
- Nurture and Heal people and communities
- Build and Improve community capacity and/or infrastructure
The term ABCD was coined by William Cleveland, the Director of the Center for Study of Art and Community based in Minneapolis, MN.
History
ABCD evolved from the large numbers of artists who got work through the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973 (CETA). The goal of the legislation was to train people and provide them with work in public service.
People found themselves working in nontraditional areas—social service, incarceration centers, beautification or self help projects—and were inspired to continue to use the arts as a way to build, develop and strengthen communities.
CETA itself was repealed in 1982 and replaced by the Job Training Partnership Act.
Partnerships
A common characteristic of ABCD endeavors is partnership. The act of collaboration underscores the value of communal efforts to address a problem, create awareness, provide support, and bring enjoyment.
Examples of partners in ABCD endeavors include, three nonprofit theaters in Cleveland, Ohio leveraging the art of drama to rejuvenate the Gordan Square district; a Philadelphia city agency and Mural Arts Program’s efforts to stabilize vacant lots and animate them as open, public spaces; public art projects designed to increase environmental stewardship by the National Park Service and the National Endowment for the Arts; and an ethnographic documentation project done by the Ford Foundation and New England Foundation for the Arts.
Other example projects include such programs as: Art in Prisons: in California, prison warden, Eloise Smith, proposed bringing in lectures, performances and concerts to prison facilities to produce safer prison environments, less expensive incarceration, and reduced recidivism. The pilot project took pace at Vacaville in 1977. This led to the creation of California's Arts-in-Corrections program.
Arts Incubator of Arlington Arts re-purposes old spaces for arts organizations to stop urban blight and improve community image. Since its inception in 1990, this ABCD initiative has increased Arlington, VA arts groups by 150%, with this community a $5 million/year industry.