Case Study

An arts and mental health initiative, Berkshire and Oxfordshire 2001-2003maps aims to change lives and overcome isolation by placing people with mental health needs at the heart of the community.The video documents key features of the programme, including:• A mentoring scheme supporting the personal and professional development of emerging artists with mental health histories.• Interviews with artists, health professionals, project participants, mentors and mentees.• Participatory arts projects in day centres.• Festivals celebrating the performing arts• Visual arts exhibitions

A Study of 5 community-based arts in health projects in the UK. The field research was carried out between 1999-2001. The projects requesting the evaluation are: the Wrekenton Lantern Project in Gateshead; South Tyneside Arts Studio in South Shields; the West End Health Resource Centre in Newcastle upon Tyne; Looking Well in High Bentham, and the Bromley-by-Bow Centre in East London.The 100-page illustrated publication is a revised and edited version of the full report. It provides detail on the five arts and health projects and their programmes of work. It considers the mechanisms that appeared to be crucial in the practice of arts in health in community settings and its effectiveness in generating health benefits to participants and professionals in their communities.

A collection of case studies and a general discussion of the role of art in the lives of disadvantaged youth, also arguing for the powerfulness of the participants work.

A follow up to the 'Risking Art - Art For Survival' publication, focusing on the work of the Artful Dodgers Studio in Australia, dealing with marginalised and disadvantaged youth and what the studio has offered them in developmental and creative terms.

This research project looks at the actual and potential contribution of the voluntary arts to the UK government's social exclusion agenda. Illustrated through 14 case studies from around the UK the aim of the research was to provide guidance as to the tools and training which may be needed by volunteer-led groups to enable them to fulfil their potential as agencies which address social exclusion. Another aim was to identify existing resources which could be more widely used, or detail the need for new forms of support.

Theatr Fforwm Cymru is an educational charity based in Pembrokeshire who use Theatre of the Oppressed and other drama-based techniques to effect change, the Agora Report is a 26 page report accompanied by a DVD to be used to introduce proposals for legislative change that have come about through the legislative theatre event, the Agora. It can also be used to participate in making these proposals a reality. The DVD takes you clearly through the proposals using short documentaries that give each community group involved an opportunity to present the rationale for their proposals, and includes footage from the Legislative theatre pieces from which the proposals have emerged.

COMEDIA has been working with the town of Huddersfield, in the North of England, for over a decade. In 1997, Huddersfield was awarded special status by the European Commission as an Urban Pilot Project, to implement an innovative 4-year programme of projects under the Creative Town Initiative.

Cultural projects have played an increasingly important role in British urban regeneration since the mid-1980s, but recent developments have focused less on capital projects, and more on the capacity of arts activity to support community-led renewal. This book, draws on over 10 years' experience of art and urban regeneration policy, and 15 case studies in the UK and abroad, to argue that culture should be taken more seriously by those responsible for the development of cities.

Urban renewal through cultural activity. Based on 15 examples explains why the use of arts in regeneration needs to be rethought.