The author examines the concept the arts of social change or ASC with examples drawan primarily from groups active in Washington, D.C. Working with various at-risk populations, in a variety of programs and media, such programs are eligible for public and foundation funding and have to deal with issues of bureaucratic management and accountability that never occurred in an earlier period.

The arts have a long history and political involvement. Since the late 1960s, a conscious movement has developed that seeks to use the arts to examine social issues, and, ultimately, to effect social change.

Art of social change typically emphasizes content over form, process over product, and audience as participants, rather than passive observers. The single component that sets this art apart from others is its direct involvement of members of at-risk populations in the artistic process (the term at-risk denoting persons who are affected by such social problems as substance abuse, homelessness, crime, AIDS and poverty). ASC is a collaboration between artists and non-artists, whereby the artwork is based upon the lives of the latter, who provide the content for the work to which the artist gives form.

CONTENTS
Aesthetic and Philosophical issues.
Aesthetic and social evaluation.
Funding the arts of social change.
A case for the arts of social change.