Strategic Community Action Plan

Grant Brennan

Arizona State University

OGL 350

Dr. Kermit Brown

October 25, 2021

 Communities that do not engage with art, especially at a young age are inclined

to a more dangerous atmosphere. One study from UPENN focusing on the social

impact of arts programs within the New York City neighborhoods showed a “4%

decrease in cases of child abuse and neglect, an 18% decrease in the serious crime

rate and a 18% increase in the number of students scoring at the highest level on

standardized math and English tests compared to low-income communities with fewer

cultural resources (Parker).” These decreases in crime and increases in educational

scoring are in a direct response to the availability of cultural resources like self-

expression through art. One way that we can learn from this study is to try to implement

more cultural art programs into low-income communities, so as to benefit not only those

taking the courses but also the community as a whole. These concepts have a place

within our struggling communities, especially within one of which Arizona’s worst funded

school district, Chinle.

Our first step in our action plan is to partner with the two organizations that we

hope to connect – the Chinle Unified School District (CUSD) and ASU’s Mary Lou

Fulton Teacher’s College. This would be a symbiotic relationship with benefits for each

party. ASU’s teachers in training can go with the incentive of not only helping young

people, but also allowing them to put this on their resume. The students and schools

benefit from a more robust arts curriculum at no cost. Connecting these two would allow

for the arts classes to take place at CUSD schools. We plan to start with sending

teachers to work with three different schools at CUSD: the Elementary, Junior-High, and

High Schools. Due to Chinle’s distance from ASU, we plan to do weekend art events

with not only the school district, but also the community. These will be facilitated through
the aforementioned schools in order to not only provide a location but also applicants of

children that want to engage with the program. With the expected high number of

applicants, we can attempt to send different students each weekend. This will allow for

more of the applicants to be able to engage with the students as well as discourage

burnout from the long drives for the weekend in Chinle.

One way we would be engaging with the students in Chinle is through self-

expressive art. This has been demonstrated to be beneficial for not only the wellbeing of

the students, but also the community (Georgetown Behavioral). If we, as an

organization, are to make any meaningful impact then we must make a positive impact

on the community. The improvement of the Chinle community is essential due to its high

poverty and crime rates. Chinle is considered one of the most dangerous areas in

Arizona in terms of its high violent crime rate. Recently, problems in the area like a

spike in violent crime during the recent pandemic and a shortage of beds in the local jail

point to a community that is hurting. Much like the interrupters in Chicago, there must be

intervention within the community to bring about positive change. Instead of spending

funding on solutions like more space in jail, there should be a focus on reinvesting into

the community. This is especially true for Chinle, where there is an opportunity to

execute on the community reinvestment proposal previously mentioned. We believe that

focusing on the next generation of children can help to change the future reality within

Chinle.

This plan would be sent into motion through the partnership with ASU’s Mary Lou

Fulton Teacher’s College. This college’s partnership would put us into contact with

student teachers that would act as instructors during our art courses in Chinle.
Partnerships such as Blick’s Art Supplies, Michaels, and Hobby Lobby would be able to

provide art supplies and funding so as to increase the availability of materials to the Arts

from the Heart team. Funding would also help pay for gas for the 4-hour drives from

Tempe to Chinle and visa versa. Due to the long commute time to Chinle, the art

workshop would be a two-day, weekend event. The workshop would go from around

noon on Saturday to noon on Sunday, with downtime in between for food and personal

time. Funding for board for the night in Chinle would be covered by funding from the art

supply stores. This setup would allow the student teachers to work with a large age

range of students from Elementary through High school. In terms of children we want to

attract to the art workshop, we feel as though young men would be a focus. Due to the

high, 93% incarceration rate of males in Federal prisons (Satistica) and the high crime

in the area, we feel the young men are at high risk for damaging their career

opportunities. By picking gender neutral themes and encouraging CUSD teachers to

share this opportunity with their students, we hope to drive a larger male population at

the art workshop.

Due to the immense poverty and high crime rate, it is imperative that people

make an effort to help the community in a meaningful way. While it would be foolish to

assume that the art workshop would halve the violent crime rate, we can still help in

other ways. The art workshop will provide an avenue for the youth in Chinle to engage

with positive influences. The art workshops can also provide a sense of direction for

aspiring artists. The numbers don’t lie – youth engaging with art will be better equipped

for their adult lives. Whether that be through the educational opportunities art can
provide or through the reduced violence, art can offer a healthy outlet, which the youth

of Chinle are in dire need of.