Capturing experiences
Evaluation

Final evaluation of Art at the centre Phase I confirmed the positive impact of the scheme, including its role in facilitating change and attracting additional funding from across local authority departments. Evaluation of Phase II will go further, gathering qualitative as well as quantitative evidence, and injecting creativity into the evaluation process itself. This approach is being developed in collaboration with the General Public Agency who will be tracking the progress of all three Art at the centre projects through to 2008. This will involve artists in helping to capture some of the ‘essence’ of the project; it will involve communities in the identification of key themes; it will develop tools to enable a deeper understanding of those themes; and it will provide mechanisms to share learning outcomes from the start. Case Studies A key challenge for Art at the centre, and a common theme for all its project partners, is the need to create a sense of unity and identity within areas undergoing rapid change. We believe that this unity should be evident not only in the physical environment but also on a social level within communities. We will be following the experiences of a number of people touched by Art at the centre Phase II as part of an innovative evaluation process led by the General Public Agency. This will provide robust evidence of the real impact of placing art at the heart of regeneration activities across the south east.