« This handbook is the legacy of the ArtsAccess project, a four year partnership between the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, the Thunder Bay Art Gallery, and the Woodland Cultural Center. Consultations with local community leaders, educators and artists throughout the province led to the creation of this community arts initiative to explore new ways of connecting with communities, sustaining local programming initiatives and supporting artists and art across the province.

The premise of the project was to have museum sponsored artists placed in the community for a period of four years to work with community groups, schools and social agencies to identify issues that might be explored, understood or given new profile or expression through art. This network was grounded in an annual symposium that brought the group together to analyze, document and evaluate this new way of working. We distilled the many stories and lessons learned over four years, 100 projects and more than 100,00 participants into thoughts about how to begin and sustain this practice.

This handbook is for anyone, artist, museum or community organization – interested in creating a community art project. » (from the AGO’s Art Matters Blog)

-The handbook was compiled and edited by Tara Turner and Judith Koke. This is posted with permission from Judith Koke; Deputy Director, Education and Public Programming at Art Gallery of Ontario