Artists in Context 2009-2015

Artists in Context (AIC) was launched in October 2009 as a major project of The Arts Company. AIC was structured as a flexible organizational framework that assembled artists and other creative thinkers across disciplines to conceptualize new ways of representing and acting upon the following eight, interconnected issues – Nature, Health, Justice, Learning, Belief, Nation, Consumption, and Shelter. AIC supported both New England–based and national artists whose existing work and ideas for future projects had been centered on these themes. Through its "Connected and Consequential" program in Greater Boston; the Pioneer Valley (MA); Rhode Island; and Maine, AIC created opportunities for artists to interact, think and collaborate with creative minds from activism, academia, the private and public sectors and local communities. It did this through sponsoring conferences, workshops, "OneBook Book Clubs," lectures, screenings and performances and publicizing related events through its email newsletters and on its website. Its main project was the Artists’ Prospectus for the Nation, a multi-media collection of artists’ projects that exemplify this type of contemporary art practice. AIC helped to define the role of artists as researchers, collaborators, public intellectuals and catalysts for social change. 

AIC emerged from the fact that many artists for some time had been working collabora­tively across disciplines, fields and sectors to invent creative, equitable and intelligent ways of transitioning to a more sustainable and just fu­ture.  In contrast to studio-bound art that dominated practice in the late 20th century, art increasingly had been connecting to and dealing with real-life situations, had been research- and action-based and had focused on the design of new representations, methods and conditions for living, thinking and acting. AIC built a network of artists, activists, academics, creative thinkers and civic actors who shared a concern for developing new approaches to critical issues of our time. AIC’s aim was to create and foster an environment in New England where artists and other creative thinkers and practitioners could find the connections, relevant training, supportive infrastructure and resources required to advance their practice and accomplish projects.