ABSTRACT
This chapter sdevelop a national model for empowering people with psychiatric disabilities to integrate into their communities through community-based arts projects. A community arts project involving integration of people with a mental illness into the community through arts activity. Though complex, the case typifies community arts activity and the critical role of arts managers in facilitating such projects in the contemporary environment of multi-government department funding for community cultural development. Art and cultural activity are recognised by governments around the world as ‘public goods’ having ‘benefit’ for the spiritual wellbeing of all people in the community. The artists were required to design the project as a team with installation of completed art work in a public park as the culminating event. The artistic activity revolved around the skills of the artists, the needs and development of the core participants and the design of the culminating installation and event in each location.
