Ethics has different names for different people. It is central to daily living. As artists, ethics is crucial to our practice, community engagement and research. Like any inward-searching and public-facing field, artistic practice, and community engagement raise ethical questions around power, representation, methodology, authorship, confidentiality and remuneration etc. Also, there is a growing appetite from many researchers within the academy to partner and/or collaborate with artists outside the academy due to the richness of qualitative methods that can offer research. Furthermore, there is a growing interest from those that are within the academy that is from countries outside of Canada and how this impacts the ethics of working with a community. Depending on the nature, focus and methods of such artistic practice, many Canadian academic institutions require ethical approval, especially for researchers working with human subjects, animals and other sensitive areas. While it has been argued that the ethical process within many academic institutions can be a risk management tool, researchers working within affect-driven, creative and community-based research such as media, art and performance, consider the research ethic process problematic simply because the ethics process itself is science-driven and our field is being subject to such a scientific model of thinking about ethics.

Also, ethics in art can be nuanced. This is because artists have to grapple with deep and complex issues in their work. Artists face ethical dilemmas that bring us to question what we do and how we do it. Thus, EPA focuses on the practice of ethics as artists in our communities. We will learn about ethics through multiple perspectives and examine ethical practices in order to glean lessons that can be useful in our work. Each workshop focuses on different topics and is summarized thus:

Workshop I: Ethics is… gives an overview of the workshop series by introducing participants to ethical paradigms (Questioning, Critique, Justice, Care, Profession, Service and Engagement) within the framework of axiology (study of values) and ethics as a political act.

Workshop II: Ethical Questioning offers a series of ethical questions through the lens of positionality, power, and privilege. Participants will be invited to reflect on their artistic practice and community engagement processes, their own shifting identities as practitioners, and the socio-political, economic and cultural realities and challenges that rise up when implementing their art practices.

Workshop III: Ethics of Critique focuses on the critique of the status quo in arts practices. Participants will be asked to consider possible alternative practices that amplify the voices of those that are equity-deserving and how arts practices might challenge societal thoughts, practices, and leadership.

Workshop IV: Ethics of Justice explores (un)ethical practice in a society that perpetuates inequities within community-engaged arts practices, including democracy and morals. Exploring various stages of the community engagement process, participants, through reflexivity and praxis, will consider the meaning and implications of taking a social justice approach to arts and community.

Workshop V: Ethics of Care examines both individual needs and the relationship to larger groups. Exemplified through different art practices in various community settings, this workshop invites participants to consider key concepts and practices in reciprocity, responsibility, relationality, and accountability.

Workshop VI: Ethics of Profession is designed to prepare oneself with the skills, knowledge, and experience to adapt to differences, recognize societal oppression, and respond to biases. Participants will be asked to consider the ways in which an affect-driven profession can build community with a deep sense of connection while understanding the demands of the arts profession.

Workshop VII: Ethics of Service and Engagement considers the implications of viewing the arts through the lens of service and engagement. Key ethical concepts, including ethnographic refusal, and control over outputs, will be reviewed in this final workshop, through a discussion on the principles of knowledge production and mobilization.

Further, there are multiple resources designed to support the learning process. Each episode has a short video (highlighting key ideas from the reading), podcasts (a conversation with a guest speaker on the topic), a workbook (for fulsome participation) and a slide deck (summarize each live session).

Finally, our special thanks go to Mass Culture for trusting us with the opportunity to create this learning stream. Special thanks to Robin Sokoloski (Co-Founder of Mass Culture), Jagroop Mehta (Project Manager, T.R.A.I.N program), Sariena Luy (Digital Designer), Stephen Donnelly (Technical support), Sadie Hochman-Ruiz (technical support) and the Federal Government of Canada for providing funding for this project. Thank you to all our guests and every participant in the learning stream.

We hope you find this entire package useful.