A report on the New England Foundation for the Arts' (NEFA) program, Building Communities Through Culture (BCC) grew out of an effort to "art-making that draws inspiration from the community, nourishes the community, and develops connections within it."

"During the 1990s, NEFA and the state arts agencies (SAAs) gathered together remarkable cultural leaders working in New England ﾝinitially to talk to them and to put them in touch with each other. Later, grants were made to individuals, identified as fellows, and to their projects. These fellows were creating more than "finite" works of art. They were engaged in community building through their work, which, by its nature, relied on interaction with civic leaders and administrators and involved ongoing activity."

"Community-generating art projects took many forms. The most effective generally involved strong leadership; collaboration with local individuals, agencies, and officials; and long-term benefits to a geographic or demographic community.The fellows drew on their neighborhoods ﾝits people and places for inspiration, and gathered-in local artists and non-artists as participants. They asked for (and received) assistance from civic leaders, and often attained their long term involvement and collaboration. Their community-based art projects sparked connections among disparate individuals, sectors of neighborhoods and institutions."

The report offers an overview of the BCC (Building Communities through Culture) initiative, a brief history of its development, and profiles of six BCC fellows and their projects. They are: Cultural Heritage Chronicles (Lewiston, Maine); Blackstone River Theatre (Cumberland, Rhode Island); "Who Are My Heroes" (Waterbury, Connecticut); The Vermont Arts Exchange (North Bennington, Vermont); Zumix (East Boston, Massachusetts); and The Mill Tapestry Project (Newport, New Hampshire).

CONTENTS
Building Communities Through Culture.
Why HERE? Why NOW? Is This NEW?
Brief History of an Idea.
Convenings: an intensive exchange of ideas.
BCC Communities and Fellows.