Editorial
The idea for Social Works?: Open came when
the Models of Validation project interviewed artists,
commissioners, producers, funders, representatives
of local authorities, researchers and academics involved
with socially engaged artistic practice at the start
of 2018. From these interviews we identified several
recurring issues in the field:
~ ~ Difficulties of communication between the people
involved in socially engaged artistic practice,
leading to a hindering of progress in the field;
~ ~ a lack of connection between artists and funders
in socially engaged artistic practice, leading
to frustration on both sides;
~ ~ isolation facing artists working in these ways;
~ ~ a lack of well supported, critical writing in the field.
We responded by applying for funding from Manchester
Metropolitan University and Arts Council England
to develop a programme of get‑togethers, workshops,
artist commissions and writing, which aimed to address
and alleviate some of these issues. Social Works?: Open
speaks to the precariousness of this practice during
an extended period of government-led cuts to arts
funding across the UK, and the continued importance
of maintaining and supporting a critical voice within
socially engaged art. Deliberately open and broad
in its remit, the open call for commissioned pieces
of writing to launch this inaugural issue encouraged