Reconstructing a Community, Reclaiming a Playground: A Participatory Action Research Study

Abstract

This article describes a participatory action research study that examined participants' perceptions of community and of the West End neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio, where the study took place. It is argued that oppressive situations have developed strong collective identities and social capital among residents, which can lead to the development of community art as a catalyst for social change and inform community-based art education. An asset-based community art curriculum was implemented and two murals were developed. Results from the study indicate that participants conceive of community, in general, as a safe, happy place that is clean and green, and the West End as a place with strong social bonds despite suffering from trash, violence, and drugs. Results also indicate that participants increasingly realized their own ability to affect change in their community to improve the landscape and promote a cleaner, greener place through art. Data reveal that the community art curriculum contributed to social change in the neighborhood by highlighting the role of neighborhood children and reclaiming a playground that had been associated with drugs and violence.