AMY KIPP
PhD
Art in a Just Recovery: A Community Mural Project
Art in a Just Recovery (AIJR) was a local community arts collaboration between Art Not Shame, the Guelph Neighbourhood Support Coalition, and Melanie Schambach that explored community care in the context of ongoing pandemic recovery in Guelph. Through an eight week online community-engaged arts program, under the visionary leadership of social artist Melanie Schambach, community participants gathered for a series of online workshops to explore these ideas together. A series of in-person and online art-making workshops followed where participants were guided by Art Buddies in creating individual art pieces that came together to create the large-scale mural.
Over 70 participants from across Guelphs’ neighbourhoods had a hand in creating Art in a Just Recovery. Led by an amazing team of Art Buddies, community members came together and brought their stories, explored different art mediums, reflected on their experience through the stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, and connected with one another.
Community-engaged research: Building knowledge about community care and collective artmaking
Alongside the Art in a Just Recovery Mural project, we conducted a community-engaged research project in partnership with the GNSC, social artist Melanie Schambach, community-engaged researcher Amy Kipp, and many of the artists and community members who took part in the mural project.Once the mural was unveiled in June 2023, we invited all those who had a hand in creating it to share about their experiences through a follow-up survey and conversation interviews. In total 28 people filled out the survey, and 18 participated in interviews where they shared the story behind the individual art piece they made as part of the mural, and their experiences making art with others. From what was shared, we built new knowledge about collective artmaking and community care.
Knowledge Sharing
A Visual Dissertation based on Art in a Just Recovery
This knowledge has been shared with different audiences, including through creative, community, and academic outputs as well as in other ways that are harder to pin down. The knowledge we co-created continues to circulate as we – those involved in the work – practice what we have learned in our everyday lives. A visual summary of Amy Kipp's dissertation based on this work can be viewed by clicking through the PDF here.
For full dissertation visit: Practicing for more care-filled futures: Exploring the possibilities of collective artmaking, community care, and caring research praxis through research-creation
Video stories
Creating Spaces of Community Care - Our Community Toolbox
We also created a toolbox on creating spaces of community care through collective artmaking for other community-engaged arts and non-profit organizations.
Additional Outputs
A more caring city of Guelph: Calls to care zine
A creative display at the Live Work Well Research Centre’s Reimagining Livelihoods Forum
Art as we are: Creative community care, an exhibit at the Guelph Civic Museum
Collective artmaking and reimagining infrastructures of care in the city, a presentation at the International Geographical Congress
Curating with care: Exhibiting and programming sensitive subject matter in galleries and museums, a presentation as part of the “Nurturing a Space for Community Engagement” workshop hosted at Guelph Civic Museum
Check back in soon for forthcoming publications!