As part of my Master of Arts in Art Education, I conducted research into community-based art education in Unama’ki-Cape Breton. 17 arts facilitators, educators, organizations and coordinators talked to me about their practices and together we began to respond to the following questions:

1. What and where are the structural gaps in community-based art education in Cape Breton County?

2. What are the opportunities and challenges to accessible community-based art education?

Funding and retention, coordination and promotion, transportation, lack of dedicated spaces, fear of participation and lack of post-secondary education were identified as emerging themes.

Based on the interviews, the following recommendations were identified:

• Establish consistent, year round positions for community-based art education specific to visual arts

• Fund rural and cultural community-based art education programming

• Fund basic income for artists and art educators

• Create a free and open database of local visual artists and art educators

• Coordinate workshops on arts administration, arts entrepreneurship and grant writing for art educators

• Research and establish local art supply chains

• Pay artists to expirement with new materials or to make their own materials

• Create a position dedicated to the promotion of visual arts and art education initiatives happening throughout the island

• Ensure public transportation routes have stops near arts and culture centres and facilities

• Create a database on physically accessible recreation facilities, how to get there and what the cost is to rent

• Fund community-based art education so people can try art for free

• Facilitate conversations on what is cultural appreciation and what is cultural appropriation in art

• Promote and fund cultural and traditional forms of art and craft

• Establish post-secondary courses or diplomas on visual arts, arts administration, arts entrepreneurship, curation and art history for new and existing artists and educators.

Implementing these recommendations in Unama’ki Cape Breton would help CBAE thrive.

View the slideshow below for an overview of the study and click the link below for a PDF of the full text.