Learning Culture and Change: A Model for Place-based Community Cultural
Development Leadership Training
William Cleveland and Erik Takeshita
Change dominates the beginning of the 21st Century. The rate of change is so rapid that it is no
longer possible for professionals in the traditional sectors such as the arts, education, health
work, social services, community development and others to operate in isolation.
Background: In 1994, the Arts Extension Service of the University of Massachusetts
approached the Center for the Study of Art and Community about the development of a
community arts training course for their annual summer institute. That project, in several
iterations over a three year period planted the seeds for a series of unique place-based
community arts leadership institutes that have made a significant impact on the effectiveness of
arts based community development practice in five US communities. (St. Louis, Missouri, San
Diego, California, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Minneapolis, Minnesota and the state of Delaware). This
paper will use the experience of the Minneapolis ‘Institute for Community Cultural Development
(ICCD)1 sponsored by Intermedia Arts and to a lesser degree the St. Louis Regional Arts
Council’s (RAC) Community Arts Training program (CAT) as case studies. In it we will
provide an overview of the program design and curriculum development processes, the creation
of a place-based pedagogy and training outcomes.
From the beginning, these training efforts sought to do more than just deliver a basic
community arts training curriculum. The idea was to work with a group of professionals from
1
Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis conducted the Institute for Community Cultural Development (ICCD) from 2002
to 2006. RAC’s Community Arts Training program (CAT) has been conducted each year since 1997.
the arts and the community development sectors to establish a new arts-based community
development leadership network for their communities, The resulting training approach utilized a
cross-sector faculty to produce a curriculum and pedagogy that was both community specific and
community sensitive. The ultimate aim was to build a cross-sector learning community of
fellows among artists, arts administrators, human service providers and participants from other
sectors characterized by effectiveness, energy and imagination.
Curriculum and Pedagogy: To accomplish our ambitious aims it was agreed that a fairly small
group of 12 to 15 fellows, split evenly between the arts and non-arts sectors (community
development, human service, public safety, etc), would be best for the initial institute(s). These
fellows were selected for their leadership capacity, not for their position. The course work was
delivered in five intensive two-day sessions spread over a five-month period with the time inbetween used for field-based research and lab work. The overall program was designed to:

Provide participants and faculty enough time together to explore the issues that arise from the
evolution of their own temporary community and to address some of the basic questions that
emerge in the development of community arts programs.

Provide fellows an opportunity to learn what it is that they need to know in order to engage
communities respectfully and effectively.

Emphasize basic community development strategies and skill development including the
history and ecology of arts-based community development, partnership development
strategies, community research, learning and teaching strategies, evaluation, funding and
legal issues.

Use an arts infused curriculum that emphasizes an active learner approach to training.

Challenge students to confront their motivations for engaging in this difficult work.

Challenge students to examine the assumptions and perceptions they carry about the
communities they wish to work with.

Use stories and cases histories to link students to the long and rich history of community art
making and to amplify the issues being examined.

Include individual and group involvement in program design, problem-solving, decision
making and art making.

Develop a lasting support network among participants.

Integrate the issues of race, class, rank and privilege into all aspects of the curriculum.
A Community of fellows and practitioners: From the beginning we felt who and how the
participants were selected was as important as the development of the curriculum and faculty.
For that reason we used a combined nomination and interview process to give prospective
participants and the faculty to learn as much as they could about each other prior to making a
commitment to each other. We also felt it would be valuable to consider finding a community
development, human service organization or university to act as a principal partner(s) in the
development of the program. In St. Louis, Webster University joined as a co-sponsor for the first
few years. In Minneapolis, the Twin Cities Local Initiative Support Corporation became the
program’s first community development partner.
Ultimately, it was our hope that institute graduates would be linked both through their
participation over time and by collaborative projects growing out of the institute. Our intention
was to support the creation of an extended network of community arts practitioners, subject
matter experts, and new and veteran learners with widely varying levels of expertise. The
network would provide links and referrals, give the field a strong sense of identity and personify
our commitment to high standards and mutual support. We felt this was very important because
the field of arts-based community development had not acquired the capacity to validate best
practices and learn from itself. The underlying value embodied through such a network was the
development of respect across community sectors for the people who were supporting and
carrying out the work in the field
Outcomes-ICCD Minneapolis: The Institute for Community Cultural Development has had
and continues to have an incredible impact on the Twin Cities region and beyond. The 60 artists
and community development professionals who have participated in the program attest to how
the experience has changed their lives including the way they see the work and the world as well
as how they engage in partnerships with others. The program’s impact has been a ripple effect,
starting from the individual, leading to connections and finally radiating out into the broader
community.
In terms of individuals, according to participants, it has provided them with both tactical
skills as well as strategic tools to help them increase the impact they have in their communities.
Through ICCD they learned critical tactical skills in listening, group dynamics and
communication. At the same time, they also garnered new tools focused on things such as
strategic planning, community engagement and forming and sustaining authentic partnerships.
There are numerous examples of the achievements of the Institute for Community
Cultural Development alumni, but here are just a few. Chaka M’Kali entered the ICCD as an
accomplished community artist. He had worked with neighborhood youth on a number of
projects and commissions. ICCD has helped Chaka take his work to a “different level” helping
him focus his efforts with an increased intentionality on developing youth and building a
stronger community through the arts. Chaka is now an organizer with one of the most respected
community development corporations in Minneapolis. Conversely, Antonio Rossell is an
Engineer and planner by training. Antonio intuitively understood the value of arts and culture in
community building, but through ICCD he was better able to understand and integrate the role of
the arts in “place-making” as well as in developing community engagement processes.
Antonio’s firm, the Community Design Group has recently completed a small area plan for a
section of South Minneapolis that features the arts as a key component to the redevelopment of
the area.
Beyond the impact that ICCD has had on individuals, ICCD has helped form new
connections. One such example is the creation of “Mosaic on a Stick” a successful business and
resource for mosaic artists in the Twin Cities. Mosaic on a Stick is owned by two ICCD Alumni
who hatched the idea for their business out of their ICCD experience with a desire to create a
physical place that could be a resource and to help build a community of mosaic artists in the
Twin Cities. A third ICCD alum, a community organizer, helped them locate their business in
the neighborhood where she worked, helping them find a location and navigate the treacherous
waters of opening a new businesses. Another example is the collaboration between two ICCD
Alumni, Juliet Patterson, a poet, and Camille Gage, a visual artist, who were introduce through
the Institute for Community Cultural Development and have since collaborated on several
projects addressing pressing community needs and issues.
While these kinds of connections have clearly had community impacts, there are other,
even more obvious examples such as Juxtaposition Arts. The entire staff of Juxtaposition Arts
and members of the Board Leadership have all participated in ICCD over the past few years.
Using the tactical skills and strategic tools as well as the connections they developed with other
key partners through ICCD, Juxtaposition has become a powerful force in the redevelopment of
North Minneapolis, one of the most distressed parts of the City. They have redeveloped a new
art center on the major commercial corridor in the neighborhood and provide a variety of youth
classes as well as economic development opportunities. The work of Juxtaposition is truly a
model for arts-based approaches to community development. Similarly, other ICCD alum
leading organizations in South Minneapolis have come together to form the City’s first business
association focused on artists and art-related businesses – South Minneapolis ARTS (SMARTS).
It is this impact in community that ICCD is ultimately about, not the training itself, but
rather the ripples that are created by developing strong, powerful and thoughtful arts-based
community development practitioners. By providing them with tactical and strategic tools for
them to better accomplish their work and connections with each other as well as others, ICCD
has created a potent network of leaders making real change in their communities.