The Conditions for Creative Communities

Open House is a long-term creative collaboration between Kettle’s Yard, an art gallery that is part of the University of Cambridge, and its neighbouring communities in North Cambridge. Each year Kettle’s Yard and the community welcome an artist in residence with a socially engaged practice to respond to the collection and the local community in order to create a new collaborative artwork.

Whilst developing Open House, Kettle’s Yard has had the opportunity to learn from others in the sector that have embarked on community projects with contemporary artists. As Open House concludes its third artist residency, this resource shares not only their learning in Cambridge, but also the experience and knowledge of our colleagues from other galleries, artists, community partners and social enterprises. The Conditions for Creative Communities is an overview of factors to consider when embarking on creative collaboration in your community. The ‘conditions’ were captured at a one-day symposium held at Tate Exchange, Tate Modern, hosted by Kettle’s Yard in April 2017. The day involved sharing practice, research and experiences before creative sessions pulled together our thoughts and ideas for these Conditions.

The Conditions aim to be useful for anyone who is considering embarking upon creative collaborations with their own community. Every project will be different as every community is unique, but as you navigate your own project these Conditions will prove to be a helpful reference point.