workshops

What is “Creative Community Engagement?”  In this two-day session, participants will learn how to build  meaningful and effective creative engagement/ capacity-building projects by exploring key questions and practicing effective project planning. How do we understand/define “engagement”?  What constitutes a successful arts-based community engagement project? How can we build strong project and partner teams, knowing our own capabilities and the talents of others?   Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of community engagement and skills in project planning. 

The Artist as Community Facilitator.  What is the difference between “teaching” and “facilitating,” in community settings, and how can artists make the transition from instruction to community engagement?  In this one-day workshop, participants will practice moving away from “teaching art” into the more complex role of facilitating creativity--cultivating listening and sharing skills, encouraging creative collaboration, and nurturing dignified and healthy dialogue in complex and/or diverse community settings.   The goal is learning how to facilitate the emergence of creative forms/works of art that allow a community to express identity, story and collective desire.

Creative Partnerships.  In this day-long workshop, we will explore the necessity of cross-sector partnerships for effective arts-based community engagement projects.  Using a more holistic approach, how can artists and arts organizations undertake community work with the support of a wide range of community partners?  Participants will practice building strong, respectful and sustained cross-sector partnerships to support creative community engagement work.

Working with Diverse Communities.  This series of workshops will explore arts-based and other approaches to encouraging healthy and transformative engagement and dialogue about race, class, gender, ability, sexual orientation, and other forms of oppression.  Participants will explore ways in which creative engagement effectively engages us in complex issues of race, class, gender, and sexual orientation.  Participants will practice creative exercises that foster understanding, compassion and dialogue as a path to racial healing. 

Children, Adults & Elders: Community-Building Through Intergenerational Engagement.  Littleglobe projects often include creative collaboration between children, adults, and elders, and we have seen the powerful impact of intergenerational work.  In this two-day workshop, participants (of different ages) collaborate creatively while learning skills for including community members of widely ranging ages and capabilities in capacity-building work.  Participants should register with one friend or family member of a different generation.  Ages 5-95 are welcome.  Workshop fee for an intergenerational “pair” of participants:

Self-Care for the Community Practitioner: Avoiding Burnout and Restoring Ourselves.  During this two-day retreat/workshop, community practitioners (anyone who works with/for/on behalf of communities) will engage in range of restorative activities that remind us of the ways we can take care of ourselves as a co-requisite to taking care of others.  We will learn and practice skills to manage our personal and public lives, avoid burnout, (re)connect with our creative goals and clarify our commitment to a balanced life.

Building Community in the Southwest U.S:  An Arts-Based Approach.  This two-day workshop asks us to reflect on the cultural wealth and historical complexity of Southwest communities and the resulting opportunities for deep engagement work.  Littleglobe believes that the Southwest U.S. provides cultural workers with potent opportunities to deepen and expand community-engagement work and that issues of historical trauma, collective wisdom, racial complexity and community cooperation (among others) encourage inspiring models for arts-based engagement work. Participants will leave this workshop with a deeper understanding of Southwest communities and skills in building effective engagement projects in the Southwest.

Building Transition Teams for Community Engagement Work.  At the end of creative engagement projects, how can we transition effectively into continued working relationships with communities?  How can artists and arts organizations continue to foster leaders, leadership teams, collaborative and development projects after the art/performance/premiere?  This two-day workshop will explore methods for building cross-sector transition teams that encourage communities to continue their capacity/development work after the initial works of art/performance have been presented.