Jaana Erkkilä
Art at Work – artistic interventions in organizational development
My presentation has a focus on the question what do artistic interventions and using art as a tool in various areas of society have in common with contemporary art and critical pedagogy in the field of art education. I am leading a research and development project Art at Work funded by Tekes and our aim is to look at how art can be used in organizational development. I am asking, how art works and can you tell beforehand, what kind of impact art has in the working place, if you really go into an artistic process that is always unpredictable and may lead into uncomfortable questions and conclusions. I argue that art is more about a way of seeing and thinking and not so much about practices which produces objects and situations that look like something we associate with art.
Art and art education have gained an increasing meaning as an instrument for making the world a better place. Art for health and well-being has become a kind of mantra that is repeated in talks and an increasing amount of funding is directed into projects that use art as a tool for social empowerment. Integrating artistic interventions and activities in various institutions and working places outside the art world, especially in care homes and among social workers has led to a question, how these activities differ from previous practices of craft and occupational therapy. What makes these socially engaging activities to be art?
Bio
I am professor in visual arts in the University of Lapland and have done my MA in State Academy of Fine Arts (KUVA) and my doctoral degree in art education in Aalto-University. I am practicing artist and my special interest in art education is what happens outside the institutionalized scenes of the art world. My teaching experience is over 20 years and covers age groups from under school age to elderly, from art school for children and young people to university students.