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18 - Participatory Arts for Vulnerable Populations

from Part V - Participatory and Community Arts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 April 2024

By
Emily A. Hennessy ,
Anise Gold-Watts ,
Agata Z. Pietrzak ,
Sam Lapoint  and
Ana Bess Moyer Bell
Edited by
Brian D. Christens
Brian D. Christens
Affiliation:
Vanderbilt University, Tennessee
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Summary

Participatory art, such as performing arts or visual arts, design, and craft, can be transformative in its ability to expose current systems of oppression while also providing a conceptual avenue for imagining and planning a different system. This chapter will describe how participatory arts may create a unique opportunity for youth empowerment and will discuss how participatory arts have the opportunity to address potential barriers to empowerment. With this chapter we aim to provide an overview of the empowerment process for youth with marginalized identities. We use a case example of a community-based program focused on drama therapy and theatrical performances, 2nd Act, to demonstrate how this type of participatory arts programming can be especially valuable for youth with additional vulnerabilities such as addiction and mental health recovery. Finally, we review how the literature on participatory arts using drama and theater demonstrates the capacity for these methods to enable broader community-level engagement and empowerment.

Keywords

addictionempowermentmental healthparticipatory artstheateryouth
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Community Empowerment , pp. 457 - 479
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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