Explainers: Community-based art education

While not one of the most popular, or least popular, approaches in the current art education landscape, community-based art education, or CBAE, is still relatively common (Bertling and Moore, 2021). Because of its unique place among other approaches, a digestible, compelling framework for CBAE might be useful. Also, in conversation with an experienced high school art teacher, student connections with local professional artists were valued as highly important; a statement echoed in the following framework (High school art educator, June 2021).  

Flávia M.C. Bastos’ “Making the Familiar Strange: Teachers' Interpretations of Community Art: A Case Study” is a 15-page explanation of the Making the familiar strange framework. Drawing upon Paulo Freire’s emancipatory ideas, Bastos’ framework illuminates the value of the art-making scenes in communities that are typically left out of the academic or critical conversation. Making the familiar strange encourages teachers and students to critically examine what is not considered art, to see that it is, in fact, art (Bastos, 1999, p. 11). 

What students are examining is local art; in a case study described by Bastos, which aligned with her overarching point, students partnered with a local furniture factory, taking part in a project where they designed and built their own chairs, and even took part in simulated job interviews (1999). 

An unfinished manuscript of “Making the Familiar Strange” is available online, courtesy of Iowa Research Online, at this address. The article is also collected in Contemporary Issues in Art Education, is available at 10 Michigan libraries, including Grand Valley State University, Calvin University, Michigan State, University of Michigan, Northern Michigan, and Wayne State. Used copies are also available for purchase on Amazon.com. 

Bastos, Flavia M.C. (1999). Making the Familiar Strange: Teachers' Interpretations of Community Art: A Case Study. Contemporary Issues in Art Education, 70-83.

Bertling, J. G., & Moore, T. C. (2021). The U.S. K–12 Art Education Curricular Landscape: A Nationwide Survey. Studies in Art Education, 62(1), 23–46.