Assessing Arts-Based University-Community Partnerships

• In Event: Problematizing Assessment of and Through Performance: Three Frames of Reference

Abstract

Arts-based university-community partnerships (UCPs) can be assessed through a set of themes generated by scholarly practice, case studies, and theory. Key components from the literature on UCPs can be applied to arts-based partnerships such as the importance of clear mission, the complexities of power dynamics, and incentives. These themes and components inform assessment questions to foster and sustain arts-based partnerships specifically including creative goals, representation, and motivation. When shared by each player in artistic partnerships, these elements can result in a common ethos of engagement.

In order to assess an arts-based partnership, it is helpful to understand the complex nature of the relationships (Stier, 2014) and power dynamics (Davis et al., 2017) inherent in collaborations. In order to understand and illustrate these complexities, I engaged in a set of exploratory inquiries, developing a set of themes about UCPs based on my experience as co-founder and Artistic Director of St. Petersburg Shakespeare Festival. I then reviewed the literature on UPCs, and used the themes to make connections, ultimately applying this content to two cases: 1) a collaboration of my arts organization with a university partner and 2) the experiences of the Chicago Butoh Project partners.

With human interaction as the base of most UCPs (Bringle & Hatcher, 2002; Greenwald & Zukoski, 2018), and arguably even more relevant in creative environments, relationship theory offers ways to understand the relationships (Clayton et al., 2010) and common tensions (Mills, 2012) experienced by partners. Although the Carnegie Foundation’s call came in 2005 for a voluntary university community engagement classification, notable studies and reports conducted as early as 2002 emphasize relationships as vital to the process of fostering and maintaining meaningful university-community partnerships (Bringle & Hatcher, 2002; Santoro & Betts, 2002; Vidal et al., 2002).

Ever present in these relationships are power dynamics between individuals, groups, and organizations. Acknowledging power structures inherent in partnership relationships can promote reciprocity (Bowers, 2017). Open discussion and exploration of power dynamics between individuals and organizations can lead to more transformative learning and community change. As a way to negotiate challenging power structures, organizational paradox theory provides a framework to move from potentially harmful relationship structures to effective and sustainable UCPs (Smith & Lewis, 2017).

Based on literature which addresses partnership assessment (Gale et al., 2019; Greenwald & Zukoski, 2018; Hamilton et al., 2014), and framed by relationships and power dynamics, questions that might be asked about future arts-based UCPs include:
• Do partners share common goals?
• How do tense relationships impact the partnership?
• How do conflicting priorities impact the partnership?
• In what ways do partners share resources?
• What incentives impact the partnership?
• Are partners promoted with equitable representation?
• How does the partnership impact student and community engagement?
• How well is the partnership supported by the university?
• How does the partnership create opportunities for transformative learning?
• How does the partnership support and develop the creative impact of the arts?
• Does the art communicate with aesthetic power?
• Does the art create conversations and change lives?

Author

• Veronica Leone Matthews, University of South Florida