Arts and Society has emerged from the RSA’s programme of the same name in 2014.

Arts and Society builds upon the body of work each of us has been doing in the fields of social change and the arts. We act as a connector and intermediary. The role of the intermediary is far more than that of a trusted and skilled broker; it also involves translation from one working practice to another and seeing the gaps where connections will enable sustainability. In our case, this is through anchoring these connecting spaces in the arts.

This approach is illustrated in these projects with:

 

Connected Conversations; Passing It On

...a series of roundtables held at the RSA in 2014 examining participatory arts practice through the voices of artists, managers, funders, commissioners, participants, thinkers and activists.

 

Recovery Island Discs

Arts and Society developed Recovery Islands Discs with the Wiltshire Addiction Service based on the idea of Desert Island Discs as part of Wiltshire’s Arts and Health conference in 2014.

 

In Common

In Common is a research project with arts based action research approach at its core and represents a partnership between the Sir Bernard Crick Centre at the University of Sheffield and Arts and Society.

 

Creative Gatherings

Creative Gatherings have arisen from a range of arts based initiatives over the last decade and can generate new ways of working and new networks through creative practice. They are meeting spaces with a difference.

 

Arts and Social Change - Peterborough

The first Arts and Social Change programme played a key role within Citizen Power Peterborough and was co-funded by Peterborough City Council, Arts Council England, East, and the RSA.This programme was completed in 2012.

 

Croydon Commons

Croydon Commons seeks to promote the recovery, wellbeing and inclusion of people with mental health issues through the co-creation of an arts project in Croydon.

 

Project Number 3

“A waiting person is a patient person. The word patience means the willingness to stay where we are and live the situation out to the full in the belief that something hidden there will manifest itself to us.”
― Henri J.M. Nouwen

 

Arts and Social Change - Wiltshire

The Royal Society of Arts is working in partnership with Wiltshire Council on the Community Campus programme, which aims to bring together vital services within each local area in the county in such a way that is shaped by local people and partners.

 

Project 3

“Trying to understand is like straining through muddy water. Have the patience to wait! Be still and allow the mud to settle.”
― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

 

Project Number 4

“And sure enough, even waiting will end...if you can just wait long enough.”
― William Faulkner

 

Innovation Forum

In 2012, leaders across the city of Peterborough decided to explore how they collaborated, communicated and led on joint agendas to improve ways of working together and delivering public services.

 

Project Number 4

“If you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be polished??”
― Rumi