Chapter 3: Sharing and Realization of the Vision and Practice of Art Facilitation Through Service-Learning

Art to most people is about talent and artistic skill. However, a programme elective, Art and Well-Being, offered by the Department of Visual Studies at Lingnan University, adopts a totally new perspective, seeing art as a language written in images. The programme investigates art’s intrinsic nature as an innate behavior unique to humans for expression and communication. Supported by cross-disciplinary theories and research findings, it examines and explains how art can facilitate and promote the well-being of individuals and communities. This type of inquiry is best scrutinised through an integrated Service-Learning Research Scheme in which the students are given the opportunity to apply the theories they learn in class to real-life situations. Through actual application of the subject knowledge, they become engaged with the immediate and direct scenarios that arise during their service, prompting them to undertake more in-depth intellectual inquiries and genuinely reflect on how art can be used to make changes in social settings. More importantly, the actual interaction with the serviced clients and the staff of different non-governmental organizations draws the students’ attention to social issues and concerns, enriching their sense of civic engagement and offering a vision of caring for others.

This chapter elucidates the point that service-learning is the best pedagogy for sharing and realising the vision of art facilitation and its effect on the community. Since 2009, Service-Learning Research Scheme (SLRS) had been integrated into the Art and Well-Being course. By 2016, 24 SLRS had been completed by 93 students who had taken the course. Focusing on the evaluation of all the SLRS, this chapter elaborates the theoretical framework, evaluation, and outcomes of the schemes. Because the perception of art as adopted in these services was rather new to the social workers involved, the students needed to have faith and good communication skills to navigate their service-learning in the right direction. This chapter discusses some of the networking and partnership issues encountered by the university and the nongovernmental organizations.