The challenge
Tracing the Enduring Effects of Community Arts Program (TEECAPS) is a project led by the University of California, Irvine, in collaboration with Deakin University, the University of Kentucky and The New School. The main aim of the project is to explore the long-term effects of participating in out-of-school (OST) arts education programs serving young people from marginalised communities.
Project overview
The project will examine the life experiences of people who have participated in OST arts programs at least 10 years ago to determine how they perceive their participation affected their lives over the long-term. In interviews, participants will share their personal accounts of their experiences and their reflections on how they feel their involvement influenced their lives.
The analysis of these interviews will work as a potential shaping force of OST programs on identity formation as we look at how participation in non-formal arts education impacts life trajectories. The project will also shed light on the capacity of creative communities to positively impact the life experiences of marginalised young people.
Outcomes
Program leaders, policy makers, researchers and funders will be able to use the findings from this project in the support, design, implementation, improvement, and extension of OST arts programs.
Publications
Conference papers
Chew P, Peppler K, DiGiacomo D, Nelligan P, Sefton-Green J and Mejias S (2023) ‘Relational connective tissue: A case study of freedom of movement in culinary learning’, International Collaboration toward Educational Innovation for All: International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS) Annual Meeting 2023. Montreal, Canada: International Society of the Learning Sciences.
Corrigan S, Dahn M, Chew P, Trapp S, Giacomo D, Sefton-Green J, Mejias S and Peppler K (2024) ‘Exploring Impacts of Arts Education through Inductive Application of Rhetorical Structure Theory’, in Learning as a cornerstone of healing, resilience, and community: ISLS Proceedings: 17th Annual Conference of the Learning Sciences (pp. 338-345). Buffalo, New York: International Society of the Learning Sciences.
Corrigan S, Ojeda-Ramirez S, Dahn M, Chew P, DiGiacomo D, Sefton-Green J and Peppler K (2024) ‘Exploring Impacts of Arts Participation through Automated Inductive Annotation’, in Learning as a cornerstone of healing, resilience, and community: ISLS Proceedings: 17th Annual Conference of the Learning Sciences (pp. 346-353). Buffalo, New York: International Society of the Learning Sciences.
Dahn M, Peppler K, Corrigan S, Chew P, DiGiacomo D, Mejias S, Nelligan P and Sefton-Green J (2024) ‘Friendship as a transformative process: Cultivating interest-driven connections, community, and perspective in the arts’, in Learning as a cornerstone of healing, resilience, and community: ISLS Proceedings: 17th Annual Conference of the Learning Sciences (pp. 322-329). Buffalo, New York: International Society of the Learning Sciences.
DiGiacomo D, Chew P, Nelligan P, Mejias S and Peppler K (2023) ‘The interdependence of identity, belonging, and learning: Evidence from an out-of-school arts life-course study’, International Collaboration toward Educational Innovation for All: International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS) Annual Meeting 2023. Montreal, Canada: International Society of the Learning Sciences.
Journal articles
Nelligan P, DiGiacomo D, Chew P, Sefton-Green J, Peppler K and Mejias S (2024) ‘Exploring the long-term impacts of out-of-school arts participation among marginalized youth’, International Journal for Research on Extended Education, 12(1): 5-22, https://doi.org/10.3224/ijree.v12i1.02
Books and book chapters
DiGiacomo D, Sefton-Green J, Dahn M, Nelligan P and Mejias S (proposal under review). Learning legacies: Surfacing the effects of youth arts over a lifetime.
DiGiacomo D, Nelligan P, Chew P and Trapp S (in press) ‘Belonging and Identity: Necessary Dimensions of Learning’, in M. Winn & L. Winn (Eds) Encyclopedia of Social Justice in Education, Volume Title: Language, Literacy and Culture. London: Bloomsbury Press.
Reports and white papers
Peppler K, Corrigan S, Dahn M, Sefton-Green J, Nelligan P, DiGiacomo D and Mejias, S. (2025). Creative Expression, Caring Relationships, and Career Pathways: A Guide to Youth Outcomes in Community Arts Programs. The Wallace Foundation
Peppler K, Sefton-Green J, DiGiacomo D, Mejias S, Corrigan S and Dahn M (2024) Well-connected: Tracing the enduring effects of community arts programs. Final deliverable and internal report to the Wallace Foundation.