CACHE / ARTRADIUS
Background
This is a research proposal on how we can make art accessible to everyone in Northwest Arkansas through a collaboration between Master of Design Students and CACHE, an organization that works with creatives and communities to empower an inclusive and equitable Northwest Arkansas. The motivation for this collaboration emerged from the MDES program’s Design & Communities class—a graduate-level studio course that explores the role of designers within communities, focusing on the context-based application of collaborative design for social impact
Method
We employed concept mapping, literature review, Interview, Journey map, competitive analysis, and information architecture to gather our data on CACHE, Northwest Arkansas, and the creative community and inform our decision. While working as a team, I was also specifically responsible for gathering existing data on CACHE, competitive analysis, and designing the information architecture and wireframes for the proposed networking platform.
Key Finding
Although Northwest Arkansas is rich in art culture, art is not accessible to everyone. Art classes are often the first to be cut from public schools and taking an art class can be extremely expensive for adults and children.
Proposed Intervention
We believe everyone should have the opportunity to learn how to make art and make a living off it— for personal and professional reasons — and to help provide that access, ArtRadius was Created.
The focus of ArtRadius is to offer free and accessible workshops in the arts to empower, enhance, connect and cultivate Northwest Arkansas by partnering with CACHE and connecting artists through networking events and online platforms of communication
For additional findings and learning please contact syabilsu@uark.edu
