What Is Community Art?

       The term 'community art' is one that has been hard for me to define. The name implies that it is a form or method of art-making that prioritizes the community, which I suppose is a good enough definition. Part of the reason that it is a little hard to pin down exactly is simply because it can come in so many forms: a community or social group coming together to paint a mural, professional artists making art for a public place for the community, etc. However, it may certainly come in a gallery space as well as proven by artists Joy Lewis and Anna Alig.

    In their exhibit: All Dressed Up: A study in Self Portraiture they worked with volunteers to create a series of photographs that would feature the volunteers as they normally juxtaposed with the same person dressed up in any outfit they chose. The results are sometimes amusing, but the vulnerability that is present adds a serious dimension to the work. The vulnerability comes from two things. 


   First, each volunteer chose to dress up as a character or in whatever unusual ensemble they chose in order to represent themselves. By showing someone as they are most often seen i.e. in street clothes and pairing that with the same person in a creative costume of their own choosing creates a contrast in which the difference is something like the 'inner self' of the volunteer. Even if they were just trying to be funny, it reveals their sense of humor not only in general - but specifically about themselves. 
  Secondly, each of the volunteers snapped their own portrait. The camera had a remote and each of the participants whenever they were ready snapped away. Consequently, the finished products are the result of the volunteers. Both artist and model are vulnerable here. The volunteers are not trained photographers which mean that they have to trust themselves, but more significantly, the artist whose name will be on the exhibit must trust them as well. 
  This arrangement fosters some vulnerability, but it doesn't stop there. This vulnerability is used by the artists to create trust. Trust between the artists and models, between the models and themselves, and all of them must trust the exhibit visitors. This sense of trust permeates the entire exhibit. Community was fostered in the creating of it and fostered in the displaying of it.