ABSTRACT
In the last chapter, I looked at how an arts and education collaboration unfolded across three sites, as situated by the particular material concerns of a poor, northeastern city in the United States that I call “Central City.” In particular, with resources increasingly scarce, “risk” has become increasingly “risky.” Teachers and teaching-artists all staked out particular and distinct claims about the value of arts and education collaborations in schools. While many of these collaborations were successful, the changing material and social landscape of Central City made them particularly challenging. That is, as resources shrank and accountability measures narrowed, moving from institutional “positions” towards more fl exible “dispositions” became diffi cult. The chapter underscored a particular paradox of our moment-the times when collaborations are most necessary are often the very times when they are most diffi cult.
