Civic Engagement and Conversation

a large number of people sit on steps along a stretch of river running through downtown Providence

Creative Practice + Community = Civic Love

Civic love is one’s love for society, expressed through a commitment to the common good—the belief that we’re all better off when we are all better off.

We manifest civic love through all kinds of actions—volunteering, marching, speaking against systemic injustice, making reparations, creating public art, design justice work—and always with love itself as the emotional heart of the work.

As part of our work in the Center for Community Partnerships, we invite you to take part in 10 Questions for Civic Love, an activity adapted from the National Public Housing Museum’s 36 Questions for Civic Love (based on the work of psychologist Arthur Aron and Detroit-based organizer Grace Lee Boggs). Through this exercise you can explore how civic love has appeared in your life or your creative practice, and how you can apply this lens to the communities that you engage.

The activity: 10 Questions for Civic Love

Answer the following questions through written responses, spoken/verbal discussion, visual means (such as drawing, collage, photography), or physical and embodied forms (such as movement, gesture, performance). Choose the format that best expresses your thinking. After you complete this activity, we encourage you to reflect on and share your story with us via our Mapping Engagement initiative.

After you complete the 10 Questions for Civic Love exercise, don’t forget to share your experiences with us via form submission.

Complete the Mapping Community Engagement form

Information for facilitators

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If you are facilitating a 10 Questions for Civic Love activity, consider the ways that participants may think of community, and the different frameworks they have in mind when considering what their community is and where it is located.How will you encourage a shared and open dialogue amongst the group?

This activity aims to encourage an open space where participants can share as deeply as they choose, and analyze their past and current experiences in the community. What physical location will be most helpful in creating a hospitable environment? What norms will you need in order to make the space feel accessible to all participants?

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Begin by grouping or pairing all participants. If you have printed out the 10 questions, provide each group with a copy.

Direct participants to go through the questions at their own pace, trying their best to engage with all of them and not to shy away from deeper material.

Remind participants they can respond in whatever format feels most authentic: written, spoken, visual, or embodied.

Facilitators can join groups or pair up to ensure that everyone has access to a fulfilling conversation.

There is no specific time limit for participation, but allow 45 minutes to one hour total to cover all questions.

Information for participants

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The 10 Questions for Civic Love activity relies on your willingness to explore, share, and be in community with others.How will you challenge yourself to be open with the group?

Hearing others’ past or current experiences and positions, and sharing our own, can be difficult, and may bring up unexpected feelings or emotions. How will you take care of yourself during this activity?

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Work through the questions at your own pace, but do try to engage with as many as you can.

Challenge yourself to be bold and authentic in your answers. Try to depart your comfort zone in the questions you select and the responses they generate.

Choose response formats that feel natural to you. You might write one answer, speak another, draw a third, or use movement to express your thinking.

This activity is part of RISD's Center for Community Partnerships' commitment to extending art and design education into purpose and impact. Send your thoughts and reflections to community@risd.edu. We would love to hear from you.

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RISD 150

Civic Engagement and Conversation

Creative Practice + Community = Civic Love

The activity: 10 Questions for Civic Love

What does community mean to you as a creative practitioner?

When have you used your art or design skills to address a community need or social issue? What did you learn?

If you could collaborate with any community organization–local or global–which would it be and why?

What creative skills do you have that could strengthen your community or advance social change?

How has civic engagement or community work shaped your artistic perspective?

When have you organized with others to address an issue you care about?

What’s stopping you from doing more civically engaged work?

If your next project had to serve the common good or advance justice, what would you create?

Who is a maker, artist, organizer, or designer whose civic work inspires you?

How do you want to be remembered for your civic contributions?

Information for facilitators

Considerations

Directions

Information for participants

Considerations

Directions

Civic Love in action

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Cultural Understanding

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