This is a quick post to let people know that Alison Jeffers’ and Gerri Moriarty’s book about the first 20 years of community art in Britain is now available as a free download. Culture, Democracy and the Right to Make Art, The British Community Arts Movement is an edited volume with valuable chapters not only by the editors, but key thinkers such as Owen Kelly and Oliver Bennett. Click on the link below to download the chapters as PDF documents:
There are few books on this subject so this is something of a landmark. It’s doubly to the editors’ credit that they’ve managed to get it published freely online, thanks to support from the University of Manchester. If you want to know more about that story, or the making of the book itself, check out their blog:
The photo above is by Daniel Meadows and from his 1970s work documenting Welfare State International
François Matarasso 