Community Innovation Labs: A Radical New Approach to Addressing Complex Social Challenges with the Arts

Monday, October 19, 2:00pm – 3:15pm

Organized by Richard Evans, President, EmcArts Inc.

Presented by Richard Evans, President, EmcArts Inc. and Jonathan Halsey, Director, Community Engagement, The Winston-Salem Foundation.

Based on its successful Innovation Labs in the arts, EmcArts is researching and prototyping a new initiative, Community Innovation Labs, exploring how artists, artistic practices, and cultural organizations might be integrated into processes of large-scale, multi-sector community problem-solving. The initiative melds aspects of creative placemaking with learning from social innovation labs. The aim is to strengthen local capacity to challenge the status quo, and work together across boundaries on transformative strategies in the face of uncertainty. Participants will be actively engaged in small-group discussions, in carrying out exercises to probe complex challenges, and in sharing local experiences about change at the systemic level.

• Insights into adaptive practices among nonprofit organizations nationwide
• Announcing Community Innovation Labs
• The Origins of EmcArts’ Community Innovation Labs, blog post written by Karina Mangu-Ward
• Case Study - Innovation Lab for the Performing Arts featuring Center of Creative Arts/COCAbiz
• Case Study - Innovation Lab for Museums featuring the Levine Museum of the New South, The Atlanta History Center and The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute/Latino New South