The Arts Mobilizing Communities: From Socially Engaged Arts to Social Artrepreneurship

This chapter retraces the evolution of socially engaged arts as part of a social practice in the arts that emerged in, and has evolved since, the middle of the twentieth century, as well as how this practice affects the initiation, establishment, and sustainability of social entrepreneurship. Artists are assuming new roles, not only as agents that unite the community to confront social issues that affect them, but also as inspirers, instigators, initiators, and participants of social entrepreneurship projects. Typically, these entrepreneurial endeavors are led by the communities participating in the arts projects. We show how socially engaged artists, when developing their activity, become agents that actively interact with the communities where they carry out their projects, and how such projects inspire communities to take charge of their own future. We furthermore demonstrate how the empowerment of communities from the socially engaged arts strengthens human connections and repairs societal fractures, thus fostering sustainability and behavioral change in business and society.