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| Community Arts Network (CAN) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Community Arts Network |
| Type | Nonprofit |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Headquarters | Providence, Rhode Island |
| Founder | Guidonia Di Nola |
| Area served | United States |
| Focus | Community arts, cultural policy, arts education |
Community Arts Network (CAN) The Community Arts Network (CAN) was a U.S.-based nonprofit and online resource focused on community arts practice, linking practitioners, funders, and institutions across cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, and Boston. Originating during the late 1990s alongside organizations like the National Endowment for the Arts, the network drew attention from entities such as Americans for the Arts, ArtPlace America, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, and Surdna Foundation while engaging with artists affiliated with Theaster Gates, Tania Bruguera, Ai Weiwei, and JR (artist). CAN functioned at the intersection of municipal initiatives exemplified by Mayor's Office of New York City programs and community collectives akin to Project Row Houses, The Laundromat Project, and Arts & Crafts Movement-inspired cooperatives.
CAN served as an online clearinghouse, professional network, and advocacy hub that connected practitioners such as Suzanne Lacy, Rick Lowe, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Marina Abramović, and Maya Lin with funders including W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Kresge Foundation, and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The network curated case studies from initiatives like Community Development Block Grant program-adjacent arts projects, municipal cultural planning efforts in Philadelphia, Seattle, Detroit, and research by universities such as Brown University, University of California, Berkeley, Columbia University, and University of Chicago. CAN also aggregated models from international counterparts like Creative Cities Network of Canada, Australia Council for the Arts, British Council, UNESCO cultural programs, and grassroots efforts similar to Zapatista movement-adjacent cultural collectives.
Founded in 1999 by Guidonia Di Nola with support from cultural policy bodies and philanthropies paralleling Futures of American Cities-era initiatives, CAN emerged amid debates influenced by reports from National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, white papers from Grantmakers in the Arts, and conferences at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, and Museum of Modern Art. Early documentation highlighted projects connected to South Bronx revitalization, Harlem cultural corridors, Chinatown cultural preservation, and rural arts projects in Appalachia. Over time CAN archived work by collectives like Los Angeles Poverty Department, Green Guerrillas, El Puente, and engaged with policy dialogues involving Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights-adjacent cultural equity efforts and municipal arts ordinances in cities like Portland, Oregon and Minneapolis.
CAN offered resources including case study repositories, practitioner directories, and tools for project planning used by organizations such as Delaware Theatre Company, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Brown Arts Initiative, and universities like Rhode Island School of Design. It facilitated convenings modeled after gatherings at Southbank Centre, Yerba Buena Center, and professional development influenced by curricula at Juilliard School, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and New York University. CAN promoted models of participatory practice pioneered by artists and organizations such as Community MusicWorks, Pine Ridge Reservation-based arts programs, El Sistema, and festivals like Sundance Film Festival-affiliated community screenings.
CAN operated with a small staff and advisory board comprising leaders from institutions such as National Endowment for the Arts, The New School, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and activists from collectives like Mural Arts Philadelphia and Creative Time. Governance reflected nonprofit frameworks used by Americans for the Arts and National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, with program partnerships patterned on collaborations between University of California campuses and municipal cultural affairs offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Staffing included editors, researchers, and regional liaisons mirroring roles at ArtPlace America and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
CAN’s funding model combined grants from private foundations—Ford Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation—with in-kind partnerships from universities such as Brown University and cultural institutions like Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, New Museum, and Walker Art Center. Collaborations included project-based work with municipal agencies like New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, philanthropic networks including Grantmakers in the Arts, and international partners such as British Council and UNESCO. CAN also partnered on evaluations with research bodies like Urban Institute, RAND Corporation, and academic centers at University of Pennsylvania and University of Michigan.
CAN documented influence on practice and policy by publishing case studies that informed cultural plans in Providence, Rhode Island, Cleveland, St. Louis, and Cincinnati; informed grantmaking at ArtPlace America and influenced curricular approaches at NYU Steinhardt, Columbia University's arts programs, and Harvard University research centers. Evaluations used methodologies similar to studies by Americans for the Arts, Rand Corporation, and Urban Institute and highlighted outcomes in audience development, neighborhood revitalization comparable to High Line (New York City)-adjacent debates, and participatory metrics informed by community-based researchers from University of California, Los Angeles and Rutgers University.
Critiques of CAN mirrored broader debates involving National Endowment for the Arts funding controversies, questions raised by activists associated with Black Lives Matter, Decolonize This Place, and artists like Nan Goldin about resource allocation, representation, and sustainability. Challenges included dependency on foundation cycles resembling issues at ArtPlace America, tensions between institutional partnerships with museums such as Museum of Modern Art and grassroots autonomy in projects akin to Project Row Houses, and digital sustainability concerns similar to archive debates at Internet Archive and scholarly repositories at JSTOR.
Category:Arts organizations in the United States