Landmarks for change: A case study examining the impact of a community-based art education program on adolescents

Critics of contemporary schooling practices posit that many students will not have the necessary resources to meet the challenges or to address the pressing issues of the 21st century. Modernist ideals like self-governing individualism, competitiveness, conformity, objective knowledge, subjective realities, racial progress, and male dominance still shape the ways adolescents are taught in society. Education practices in which modernist tendencies still exist may make it difficult for youth to navigate an increasingly pluralistic and complicated world and may make it increasingly difficult to maintain community attachment or an investment in their futures (Lesko, 2001).; This qualitative case study examined what can happen when youth are given the skills and the opportunities to invest in their own future or the futures of their communities. The primary purpose of this study was to explore an understanding of a community-based art education program and its role in helping young people become more connected to their communities and more engaged in matters of social change. I drew theoretically and methodologically from a research approach that incorporated postmodern theory and practice into a community-based art education framework in order to better explain the complexities of youth growth and change in contemporary society.; Through this lens, it appeared that the "Artists as Activists Program" encouraged social responsibility through community-based art works by engaging multiple people in meaningful creativity and including the narratives of young people in making art for the public. This community-based art education program built on postmodern principles allowed students to learn about and develop a connection to their communities through art-making as well as to develop the skills necessary to become engaged citizens in social change.; This study presents evidence that community-based art education has the potential to help youth use their art as a mechanism to connect to their communities and to recognize their role in creating personal and collective landmarks for change.