Manifesto
Artists in Residence in Government can collaborate with government staff to build more equitable places and systems that care.
The Opportunity
Governments are now committed to building more equitable places and systems that care. Agencies across sectors lack capacity, time, knowledge, and creativity to tackle national issues from affordable housing and financial precarity to the climate crisis and systemic racism. Returning to an old “normal” will further entrench these problems. Artists and governments collaboratively building a new future grounded in equity is an opportunity to shape new civic systems that care. This new way of shaping government offers a freedom to experiment, and an invitation to dream together. Artists and government staff are ready to pursue this opportunity.
Artists can be
Leaders of future-focused change. Critical thinkers. Creative problem solvers. Role models. Facilitators. Storytellers who invite others to share collective experiences. Fearless dreamers of the unknown. Nurturers. Experimenters. Inspirational motivators. Listeners. Relationship builders. Hosts welcoming and elevating community voices. Artists can build places to gather, write policy that is poetry, and create tools for conversation - they are not afraid of the challenge and collaboration necessary to bring governments towards change.
Governments can be
Innovative. Creative. Loved. Trusted by the public. Stewards of social good. Providers of care. Prescient. Dreamers seeking new ideas through collaboration to strengthen their ability to support constituents. Humble. reflective, iterative, and flexible. Committed to the public good. Risk-takers. Community leaders and change-makers. Collectives of people with power for change. Collectively, government staff are hardworking civil servants dedicated to community support who are trapped between policy, politics, and community dreams in working to enact change.
CAIR Lab is
A space for cocreation and experimentation that connects artists and governments in manifesting equitable civic systems. We extend an invitation to collaborate by reaching across sectoral divides to connect artists and government in advancing shared goals. We recognize that each place is unique and faces a complicated set of challenges particular to the social, political, environmental, and economic contexts. In response, we are dedicated to building more just places through arts-led,
cross-sectoral collaboration.