Arts programming happens in the places where people live, work and spend time together. It can take the form of an exhibition in a community hall, a pottery workshop, a music session, a public art project, a seasonal gathering or a series of activities organized with local artists.
Our Arts Incubator team develops and delivers arts, cultural and community projects with nonprofits, local organizations, artists and community partners. We organize workshops and exhibitions, coordinate artists and facilitators, develop seasonal programming and help organizations make use of community spaces for creative activity.
Our work brings artistic practice into community settings. That includes the practical arrangements needed to make programs happen, but the purpose is the activity itself: making art, working with materials, sharing skills, presenting work and creating opportunities for people to take part in cultural life.
Community arts programs
We develop arts programs that give people opportunities to make and experience art close to home. Programs can be organized as individual workshops, short series, seasonal activities or ongoing community offerings.
Activities may include painting, drawing, ceramics, pottery, photography, music, storytelling, printmaking and digital media. The format depends on the artists involved, the interests of participants, available facilities and the resources of the organization hosting the program.
We work with organizations to establish the program, arrange artists or facilitators, plan sessions, organize materials and coordinate the space. Where a program runs over several months, we can help develop a schedule that gives participants something consistent to return to while allowing the activities to change over time.
Some programs are intended to introduce people to a new creative activity. Others provide space for experienced artists to develop and present work. We can support both, including projects where community members and professional artists work together.
Exhibitions and artist-led activities
Exhibitions give artists a place to show their work and give communities an opportunity to encounter it. They can also create occasions for conversation, workshops and other public activities.
We work with organizations and artists to plan exhibitions, arrange presentation spaces, coordinate installation and organize openings and related programming. We can assist with artist communications, schedules, promotional material, documentation and the practical details involved in presenting work.
We also coordinate artist-led workshops and demonstrations. These may be connected to an exhibition or offered as separate activities. A workshop might introduce a particular material or technique, give participants time to make their own work or bring an artist into a community setting to share their practice.
Making more use of community spaces
Community halls, recreation facilities and other shared buildings can accommodate much more than their regular scheduled activities. With appropriate planning, they can host exhibitions, workshops, music, creative gatherings and cultural programming.
We work with organizations to develop activities suited to the facilities they have. This includes considering the available space, equipment, storage, accessibility, scheduling and the people who will be responsible for opening and operating the venue.
The aim is to create a workable program that fits the building and its community. A hall might host a weekend exhibition, a series of evening workshops or a seasonal program that brings several local groups together. Outdoor spaces can also be used for painting, public art, land-based activities and community projects.
Cultural projects and local storytelling
Communities have histories, stories, artistic traditions and contemporary experiences worth documenting and sharing. Cultural projects can bring these materials into public view through exhibitions, publications, photography, interviews, storytelling events and digital collections.
We help organizations develop projects that document local cultural activity and provide opportunities for people to contribute. This may involve working with artists, collecting stories and images, preparing material for an exhibition or producing an online archive.
The work can focus on local history, community events, artistic practice, place-based experiences or the development of a particular program. We can also connect cultural documentation with workshops and public activities, giving participants a chance to create new work alongside the process of recording existing material.
Creative placemaking and community projects
Creative placemaking uses artistic activity to change how people experience and use a place. This might mean a mural, an outdoor installation, a public art workshop, a community garden project with an artistic component or a series of activities that bring people into a shared space.
We work with local organizations and artists to develop these projects from the initial idea through to delivery. This can involve identifying a suitable location, working out what is possible, finding artists and participants, arranging materials and equipment, and coordinating the activity.
Some projects are temporary. Others leave behind a physical artwork, a collection of stories, a new community resource or a recurring program. The format should come from the project and the people involved, not from a predetermined template.
Arts, culture and other community priorities
Arts and cultural activity can connect with other areas of community life. A project might combine creative workshops with a community garden, bring artists into a local food initiative, use storytelling to document a changing community or include cultural activities as part of a larger recreation program.
We develop and coordinate projects that make these connections possible. Our wider work in community programming, research, food systems, local infrastructure and digital publishing gives us experience working across different kinds of initiatives.
This does not mean every arts project needs to serve another purpose. Sometimes the reason to organize a program is simply that people want to paint, make ceramics, play music, see an exhibition or spend time making something together. Those activities are worthwhile in their own right.
Project development and delivery
Organizations can engage our team to develop a new arts program, coordinate an exhibition, organize a workshop series or deliver a larger community cultural project. We can take on the planning and administration, work directly with artists and facilitators, coordinate materials and facilities, and organize the public presentation of the work.
For recurring programs, we can establish an ongoing arrangement covering seasonal planning, artist coordination, scheduling and delivery. For a single event or exhibition, we can agree on a defined scope and project budget.
| Service | Indicative contract value |
|---|---|
| Community arts program development | $2,500–$8,500 |
| Artist-led workshop or creative session | $750–$2,500 |
| Multi-session workshop series | $2,500–$7,500 |
| Exhibition planning and coordination | $2,000–$6,500 |
| Community cultural event | $2,500–$10,000 |
| Creative placemaking project | $3,500–$12,000 |
| Cultural documentation and storytelling | $2,500–$8,500 |
| Ongoing community arts programming | $1,500–$5,500/month |
Prices depend on the number of sessions, artist fees, materials, equipment, facilities, travel and project duration. These costs can be incorporated into a single project budget or identified separately.
Working with artists and local organizations
We work with artists, nonprofits, community associations, recreation organizations, cultural groups and local institutions. Our role can be to organize the project behind the scenes, coordinate the people and resources involved or take responsibility for delivering the program.
We want artists to have the space and materials to make work, participants to have opportunities to take part and organizations to have a program they can actually operate. That requires attention to both the creative content and the arrangements that support it.
Have an exhibition, workshop series or community arts project in mind? Contact us to discuss the artists, activities, location and resources needed to make it happen.
