title: Community-based arts initiatives: exploring the science of the arts.
abstract: In this introduction to the special issue, we describe some of the rewards and challenges of community-based arts initiatives for our discipline. We explore the inherent tensions between art and science that are reflected in community-based arts activities. We pose larger questions about researching community-based arts activities and defining the arts as a means of promoting social change. The diversity of populations, settings, and issues represented by the papers in the special issue are described and a common set of values, methods of inquiry and action are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH, 43404, USA, cstein@bgsu.edu.
authors.forename: Catherine H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Stein
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Faigin
mesh_terms: D001154:Art; D003256:Community Participation; D006801:Humans; D012586:Science; D012922:Social Change