Arts for Social Cohesion (ASC) draws on artistic processes, and crafts powerful artistic experiences, to build belonging and honor a multiplicity of backgrounds and experiences.
We combine excellence in creating, directing and performing multidisciplinary productions with pedagogies of listening, learning and situation-crafting.
We partner with visionary leaders in civic, cultural, business and academic spheres seeking to help communities navigate the enormity of today’s challenges — and opportunities — with creativity and adaptability.
All sand images on this site by Kseniya Simonova, from ASC/GME Productions
What is Social Cohesion?
We understand social cohesion as “the ongoing process of developing well-being, sense of belonging, and voluntary social participation of the members of society, while simultaneously a) developing communities that honor and celebrate a multiplicity of values and cultures, and b). safeguarding equal rights and opportunities in society.”
Social cohesion is a framework for thriving and flouring on individual, community and institutional levels.
Our interdisciplinary team contributes to the strengthening of social cohesion by:
Developing & facilitating Belonging Interventions
that help participants become more visible to one another by engaging with each others’ stories in ways that are moving, dignified and alive.
Belonging Interventions are not about agreement. But they are about understanding, and being understood: What are the backstories leading you to be who you are, see what you see, know what you know?
Producing live, original multidisciplinary performances
Our productions explore real-word tales of choices people make in times of personal or society change, especially unexpected grace in upheaval. Through emotionally powerful experiences our performances help people feel connected to what may have previously seemed unrelated or irrelevant. This helps illuminate what is at stake in the choices people make, in personal, human terms, cultivating celebration of backgrounds and perspectives different from one’s own.
Fostering skills and capacities for leadership and psychological safety through a range of experiential workshops.
Studies in organizational psychology suggest that psychological safety — a culture of iteration in which members feel safe candidly expressing ideas, concerns, questions, and admitting to mistakes — is a leading contributor to teams’ abilities to solve problems more creatively and quickly and maintain relevance and efficacy even in the face of volatile change.
We draw on artistic processes to help current and future leaders hone their abilities to advance such belonging in the workplace.
Assisting cultural organizations with impactful program/project design & organizational storytelling to secure funding investments through consultancy and thought partnership.
Through dynamic, multi-perspective exploration and nuanced listening, Arts for Social Cohesion (ASC) helps arts organizations develop and activate complex project and program visions. ASC assists arts organizations tell their stories about what they do, the reasons it matters, and how investment in these organization’s programs and projects improves the wellbeing of individuals and communities.
All sand images on this site by Kseniya Simonova, from ASC/GME Productions