ABSTRACT
The role of art has always been at the center of art therapy and its long-standing attempts at defining the parameters of the field. And yet we are living in a moment of great social, political, and technological changes. We face immense horizons of new knowledge. What do we as art therapists offer in response to the cultural and societal shocks that accompany these times? This chapter considers this and other questions in relationship to the place of art in the broad landscape of art therapy research that is becoming ever more global and diverse. Imagining art therapy as "communities of practice" in which art is a common tool of transformation will help us move between methodological paradigms to evolve new conceptions of theory and practice. The emphasis on research to develop standardized art-based assessments remains strong, as is the call for evidence-based outcomes studies.
