Community art, also known as social art, community-engaged art, community-based art, and, rarely, dialogical art, is the practice of art based in—and generated in—a community setting. It is closely related to social practice and social turn. Works in this form can be of any media and are characterized by interaction or dialogue with the community. Professional artists may collaborate with communities which may not normally engage in the arts. The term was defined in the late 1960s as the practice grew in the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia. In Scandinavia, the term "community art" more often refers to contemporary art projects.
Community art is a community-oriented, grassroots approach, often useful in economically depressed areas. When local community members come together to express concerns or issues through this artistic practice, professional artists or actors may be involved. This artistic practice can act as a catalyst to trigger events or changes within a community or at a national or international level. A recent example is that of the Brooklyn Immersionists who created dynamic events in the streets, rooftops and abandoned warehouses along Brooklyn’s industrial waterfront in the 1990s. The emergence of creative networks helped to bring local businesses back to the area and lowered the rate of attrition for the disadvantaged in that economically struggling district. The attrition rates reversed when the City of New York privileged corporate developers in the new millennium.
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