The Arts@ Program: The Creation and Impact of an Arts Community at a Specialized Institution

This paper will examine the Arts@ Program, an arts and leadership program run by a director at a specialized institution of higher education in the northeastern United States. This paper offers the opportunity for readers to: 1.) Analyze a community arts program from a leadership perspective; 2.) Examine ways in which leadership, decision-making, and related factors can impact a community arts program; and 3.) Apply concepts of the Arts@ Program toward future virtual programmatic efforts. Key learnings from this paper include the following: 1.) Arts communities provide opportunities for all community members to engage in, build lasting memories from, and benefit from arts-related programmatic efforts, including arts instructors; 2.) Community arts programs have the potential to encourage aspects of self-leadership while also allowing participants to develop a deep, cogent appreciation for the arts; and 3.) Many of the design and delivery aspects of arts programs such as those discussed about the Arts@ Program can be applied toward future programmatic efforts, particularly in virtual formats. Reflections and recommendations for future research are presented.

Exploring the Addiction Recovery Experiences of Urban Indigenous Youth and Non-Indigenous Youth Who Use the Services of The Saskatoon Community Arts Program

This article explores the experiences of addiction recovery among urban Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth who attended the Saskatoon Community Youth Arts Program (SCYAP). SCYAP is a community-based organization that provides creative ways for youth to express themselves through art, and is intended to address the social, economic, and educational needs of urban youth who are characterized as at-risk. SCYAP has functioned since 2001 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Six Indigenous youth and four non-Indigenous youth were interviewed to explore how the processes of addiction recovery were understood and or experienced. The study postulates a theory of addiction recovery founded on Indigenous and non-Indigenous experiences, a sense of belonging, identity, values, art, and visualization. This study is qualitative in nature and explores the experiences of Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth in relation to addiction recovery. Research results show that Indigenous youth and non-Indigenous youth who use the services of SCYAP have meaningful insights into the ways in which they experience and understand addiction recovery.