Articulating Value: finding a common language between artists and our worlds of practice

Presentation of Cole's work Smother (2010) at this research event held at FACT Liverpool. This symposium invited practitioners, funders and educators to hear findings of the research, presented by Lynn Froggett; Professor of Psychosocial Welfare & Director of Psychosocial Research Unit, University of Central Lancashire, to discuss the potential future application of the research and to begin exploring a common language through which to articulate the artistic and social value of socially engaged arts practice.Smother was a case study for this research. In order to better understand the impact of socially engaged arts practice and the ways in which its value can be evaluated and articulated, Arts Council England, the Gulbenkian Foundation and Northern Rock Foundation commissioned The University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN) to complete an in-depth national comparative study of the practice of four visual arts organisations: Grizedale Arts (Cumbria), Artangel (London), Foundation for Art and Technology (Liverpool) and Centre of Contemporary Art (Glasgow). The study evidences and conceptualises the different ways in which engagement with contemporary visual arts can change individuals, communities and organisations through deep, intensive and often personalised experiences where practice is informed by robust philosophies of social engagement and a strong civic mission.