Arlene Goldbard is the most respected person in my field: community-based arts, i.e. artists collaborating with communities for positive social change. She has written the seminal textbooks in the field and approaches her subject with deep intelligence, piercing analysis and a full, open heart. She has written for our magazine, High Performance, and written for our Web site, The Community Arts Network. She is the most intelligent optimist I have ever worked with in 35 years in this field.
Linda Frye Burnham, Cofounder, Art in The Public Interest,
Editor, Community Arts Network,
Saxapahaw, NC
Arlene’s essays have been published in dozens of books and journals. Check out these samples on culture, politics, and spirituality:
Selected Essays and Articles
- Essay for the 50th anniversary of the San Francisco Neighborhood Arts Program. Read here. April 2018.
- Art Became The Oxygen: An Artistic Response Guide. Download at U.S. Department of Arts and Culture. August 2017.
- “Belonging as A Culture Right” in Othering and Belonging Journal; Issue 2, Spring 2017. Read at Othering and Belonging website.
- “Cultural Equity: An Opera in Three Acts,” in STIR Journal. September 2014.
- “Call & Response: IA’s Conference Experiment,” Imagining America’s Public journal. May 2014. Download here.
- “The Cultural Commons Lies Hidden in Plain Sight,” at On The Commons. December 2013.
- Music & Civil Society: A Never-Finished Symphony Interactive publication based on a symposium sponsored by Community MusicWorks and The Cogut Center for the Humanities at Brown University. March 2012. Download from Community Musicworks’ website.
- “Symposium: Seven Characters in Search of An Audience (with apologies to Plato),” in Counting New Beans: Intrinsic Impact and the Value of Art, a publication of Theatre Bay Area. March 2011. See TBA’s website.
- “The Art of Engagement: Creativity in the Service of Citizenship,” in The Connected Community: Local Governments as Partners in Citizen Engagement and Community Building, Download at the Alliance for Innovation Website.
- “Nine Ways of Looking at Ourselves (Looking at Cities)” in What We See: Advancing the Observations of Jane Jacobs, May, 2010. A re:PLACE Top 10 Book of 2010 and Planetizen: Top 10 Book of 2010. Download reprint from a special issue of Culture and Local Governance.
- “Twelve Bites of the Apple: Beth Grossman’s ‘All the Rest is Commentary,'” May, 2010. Read the full text at Zeek.
- “Three Habits of the Heart and Mind To Spark Cultural Awakening,” May, 2010. Read the full text at the On The Issues Magazine.
- “The Long, Hot Summer of Service: Community Artists on The Job,” July, 2009. Read the full text at the archived Community Arts Network site.
- “Arguments for Cultural Democracy and Community Cultural Development,” GIA Reader, Spring 2009. Read the full text at Grantmakers in The Arts.
- “Human Rights and Culture: From Datastan to Storyland” The Spanda Foundation, May 2009. Scroll down to download Spanda News, Vol. III, 1. 2009, “Human Rights & Security.”
- “The New New Deal 2009: Public Service Jobs for Artists?” December, 2008. Read the full text at the archived Community Arts Network site.
- “The New New Deal, Part 2 – A New WPA for Artists: How and Why,” January, 2009. Read the full text at the archived Community Arts Network site.
- “To Sanctify,” 2008. Read the full text at the Kaddish Project.
- “The Metrics Syndrome,” 2008. Download the full text.
- The Curriculum Project Report: Culture and Community Development in Higher Education, 2008. Download the report here.
- “Bromides and Sugar-Pills: Cleaning Out the Artworld Medicine Chest,” Teaching Artist Journal, 6:3, 220-223, July 2008. Click here to download the full text.
- “The Path of Stories: Artists and The Thousand Kites Project,” Read the full text at the archived Community Arts Network site.
- “The Story Revolution: How Telling Our Stories Transforms the World,” Read the full text at the archived Community Arts Network site.
- “Don’t Do It! Organizational Suicide Prevention for Progressives,” Read the full text at the archived Community Arts Network site.
- “Let Them Eat Pie: Philanthropy a la Mode,” appeared in Tikkun July/August 1996), Volume 11, Number 4. Download text here.
- “Memory, Money, and Persistence: Theater of Social Change in Context,” appeared in Theater, Volume 31, Number 3 (Spring 2002).
Read the Text on this site. - “An Introduction to Arts and Culture,” Community Arts Network reading room,
Read the text offsite. - “Grassroots Vanguard,” originally appeared in Art in America, Volume 70, Number 4, April 1982, now on Community Arts Network reading room.
Read the text offsite. - “The Big T’shuvah” appeared in New Menorah Rosh HaShanah 5763/2002 issue).
Read the Text on this site. - “Creative Risk,” originally appeared in Living Text.
Read the Text on this site. - “The First Consultant” is a drash on the story of Joseph, who served Pharaoh in a way that set the bar for consultants to come.
Read the Text on this site. - “Fringe People” is a parable of Jewish renewal, inspired by the Book of Ruth and the Biblical text commanding the Israelites to put fringes on the corners of their garments.
Read the Text on this site. - “Secular Orthodoxy” is about the anti-religious fundamentalism of some non-believers; it originally appeared on Tikkun online in July 2004.
Read the Text on this site. - “Hard Lessons: Mendocino’s Forest Advisory Committee,” October 1992. Click here to download the full text.