Research & Evaluation

A young folklorico dancer along La Doce food corridor. Photo by Cait NiSimion

We also bring the tools of the folklorist (assets mapping, ethnography, participatory action research) to foundations and collaborative initiatives involving arts and culture. Past work in this area includes:

Folk & Traditional Artists in Arizona – A Survey of Support: A collaborative effort with the Arizona Commission on the Arts funded by the American Council of Learned Societies, research by Casely Coan investigates the impact that monetary awards and other forms of support have on folk and traditional artists and culture bearers in the state of AZ. She is conducting ethnographic interviews with Master-Apprentice Awardees and reviewing survey data to deepen our understanding of how support functions in the artists’ communities and also to identify what other forms of support are still needed. Following this, Casely will also conduct interviews with new artists in an effort to identify emergent trends in Arizona folklife and to bring attention to parts of the state that haven’t yet been featured in SFA’s programming. This project is the first statewide survey of Arizona folklife since Kimi Eisele’s 2012 report, “Abundant and Diffused: An Assessment of the Folk and Traditional Arts in Arizona,” which led to Southwest Folklife Alliance’s founding.

Reclaiming the Border Narrative is an effort to penetrate and shape the national attention on migration and the United States-Mexico border by supporting authentic storytelling by affected communities on the cultures and socio-political dynamics that comprise the region. The initiative is a partnership between the Ford Foundation, Borealis Philanthropy, the Center for Cultural Power, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures. Funding will enable immigrant rights advocates, artists, writers and organizations to work over the next three years to organize and preserve stories reflecting the dignity and truth of border communities, connecting and empowering them to center their own narrative on their terms and in their voices. Led by Dr. Maribel Alvarez and Kimi Eisele, SFA is documenting the learning from this initiative through comprehensive ethnographic research.

Arizona Creative Communities Initiative: We offered guidance to the Arizona Commission on the Arts and Arizona State University’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts (ASU HIDA), in an initiative supporting 9 teams representing Arizona cities, towns, and neighborhoods exploring how arts and culture can contribute to community development and positive community change. Teams received intensive training, one-on-one mentorship, and funding. Visit the AZCCI site to listen to podcasts about each of the projects. 2019-2020

University of Arizona Office of Student Engagement: We worked with the UA Office of Student Engagement to assess the landscape of student programs, courses, and projects that integrate community engagement at the university. Our findings offer recommendations for best practices and institutional support. We also carried out case studies of several such programs. Sept. 2019-Jan 2020

Nogales, Arizona: A rapid-assessment of community needs/assets/desires: We conducted a needs assessment in Nogales, Arizona to understand pressing local issues, innovative responses, and ideas for how the UA College of Social and Behavioral Sciences might best use the Castro House, the former residence of the state’s only Mexican American Governor, Raul Castro. The house was gifted to the College in fall 2019. Our assessment also helped birth VozFrontera, an SFA program in Nogales, bringing arts and entrepreneurship to youth in that community, in collaboration with community partners and with funding from ArtPlace America. 2017-2018.