Community Media is created and controlled by the community; therefore, it is separate from commercial media as it is independent of market-driven outlets such as TV. It is the process in which professional artists work with people from communities who don’t normally engage in art or media.
The UK broadcasting sector, The Community Media Association (CMA) “promotes access to the media for people and communities”. (Commedia.org) They believe that the collaboration between communities and artists can help to build “empowerment, cultural expression, information and entertainment” for communities that do not actively take part in artistic activities.
A community-based project with a social action agenda is Cease Fire in Chicago. A documentary directed by Steve James named, The Interrupters follows the lives of the Cease Fire volunteers, also known as interrupters. Each Violence Interrupter has had ties to gang related violence in their pasts and now looks to diffusing the violence in their communities. The documentary itself was not a community made project as an already highly acclaimed director made it. As well as being professionally funded and exhibited; it was premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011 and also won the special Jury Award at the Sheffield Doc/Fest.
The interrupters all have their own way of teaching, however Eddie Bocangera helps children through art.
From this clip, it is obvious that Eddie found help from art in overcoming his past and becoming a better person. He now uses his talent to help children in the community express their feelings in a positive way, rather than use violence like many people in their area. Therefore, proving that community based art and media allows people from deprived areas to express their concerns or issues in a safe environment.
Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery is showing an exhibition on Street Art, which explores how street art, has moved on. Graffiti, the most popular form of street art, was seen as a form of vandalism on city walls however, now it is an art form. The launch of this exhibition will include events such as Dance, music, DJs and art activities that the public can be a part of. This is a form of Community Art and Media; by taking so many different formats of art and expressionism there will hopefully be something that everyone can be part of. Tullie House provide many opportunities for people to engage in various art classes with professional artists as well as other seasonal programmes such as movie nights.
As well as Tullie House, there are organisations within Cumbria that promotes community art and media projects such as Creative Futures Cumbria. They were formed in 2008 and aim to “develop innovative and inspirational arts and learning opportunities with and for children, young people and their communities. Central to this is working in partnership with professional artists.” (creativefuturescumbria.org) This organisation supports local artists in working with children in schools. The aim is to build creativity and confidence for young people as well as staff. An example case study is a Digital Media class ran by Karen Pringle at Hindpool Nursery in Barrow-in-Furness. This project was to “build staff confidence and skills in IT and the creative use of digital media with very young children.” By teaching staff how to use IT and digital media effectively, it means that schools can become more self-efficient in doing creative activities with youngsters.
Another local business that actively takes part in community media is Impact Housing; they develop new properties for the growing needs of the region, including flats for young people and homes for growing families. During my first year at college, they asked students on my course (Media Production) to make a film that would showcase how their employees operate within the community. Therefore, we filmed one of their staff days before the summer; during this event they were able to speak to clients and fellow employees to discuss possible improvements that could be made to the business. This was an informal event and hopefully encouraged growth and understanding within the business. We filmed this event so that they could use the footage internally and hopefully improve services to clients.
All of these case studies prove that Community Art and Media can have a positive effect on communities. Whether it is used to aid creativity in schools or as a way to express feelings and opinions in a positive outlet.
Bibliography
- Community Media Association. What We Do [Online]. Available from: http://www.commedia.org.uk/what-we-do/ [Accessed: 21 September 2012]
- Kartemquin (2011) Youtube [Online]. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fLqKeExmxM [Accessed: 21 September 2012]
- Creative Futures Cumbria. About Us [Online]. Available from: http://www.creativefuturescumbria.org/about-us [Accessed: 21 September 2012]
Social Action & Community Media 