Theme-based Initiatives
UC Santa Cruz's Social Practice Arts Research Center introduces theme-based initiatives to encourage the pollination of new ideas, bringing artists, scientists, and others together to find innovative ways to address key social and environmental issues.
SPARC is launching a series of investigations into the ethics of socially engaged art practice. These investigations will include an International Artist Fellow residency, a one-day closed working group intensive on ethics with invited artists and scholars, and an exhibition/round table discussion at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History which is open to the public.
Research Initiative: 2012-14 The Ethics of Socially Engaged Art Practice
In the spring of 2012, SPARC will found the Ethics Working Group by bringing together key figures in social and environmental arts practice, social scientists, community members, and arts organizations to explore the question of ethics in social practice.
This working group will kick start research into the roles, possibilities, and responsibilities of social practice artwork, providing support for our research projects and content for our online theme-based journal.
The ethics working group will address such questions as:
- Who benefits from social and environmental arts research?
- How are relationships forged?
- What are the hierarchies between artists, researchers, and the communities they work with?
- Who gains ownership of collaborative efforts and distribution of funds?
- Who judges the value of a project?
For further research details, please see Research Fellows & Affiliate Projects.