Sixteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

This paper addresses the role of the arts in mitigating societal challenges. It explores the outcomes of one of 35 experiments of the AMASS European Testbed, a European Commission-funded Horizon 2020 project. This initiative sought to understand the bold approaches and attitudes of artists to engage in a self-hack with business mentors and service designers. The aim was to experiment with what could be, and what ought to be the contributions of the arts in fast-changing worlds in which margins have become blurred and omnipresent. This arts-based action research (ABAR) project created concrete opportunities for people to come together and accompany artists as agents in creative projects and interpretations. The project implemented ABAR approaches that drew on data collection methods such as focus group discussions, ethnographic observations, workshops and note taking. The research asked: ‘How can the arts be a vehicle for sculpting entrepreneurial worlds?’, and ‘How can artist finding themselves at the margins of entrepreneurial environments explore their own unique abilities cross the margins between the arts and business worlds?’ Assessment methods of the study impact included reflective interviews, open-ended questionnaires, process evaluation and artistic imaging, such as photo or video voice. The main outcomes of the intervention illustrated how artists can harness margins as opportunities for growth and self-realization, while unique opportunities can be leveraged through interdisciplinarity. The arts insufficiently report on evaluation practices for measuring impact. Thus, the value of the study lies in documenting the work and evaluation processes applied in this experiment.