Arts and Homelessness in Coventry
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Report: Arts and Homelessness in Coventry
The HOME: Arts and Homelessness festival took place in venues across Coventry city centre between Friday 8 - Saturday 16 October 2021 as part of Coventry UK City of Culture 2021. The festival was a celebration of arts and homelessness projects in the city, created and co-produced by people who had experienced homelessness.
Coventry City of Culture also supported a legislative theatre project to refresh Coventry City Council’s homelessness policy and rough sleeper strategy via co-production methodologies. Both of these initiatives were co-produced by Arts and Homelessness International.
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The research report Arts and Homelessness in Coventry, co-written by Professor Nadine Holdsworth and Jennifer Verson, explores and evaluates the initiatives pioneered by Arts and Homelessness International to re-think and re-position how arts and creativity can change perceptions, policy and outcomes for those who are or have been homeless in Coventry. The report is based on a three-year study and draws on a mixed-method approach to data gathering and analysis, including: participant observation; semi-structured interviews; vox pops; photo elicitation, and creative methods of documenting events such as diary entries and photography. It examines key findings resulting from these initiatives, the co-production methodologies they employ, and explores how multiple stakeholders narrate and understand their participation. It concludes by highlighting the legacies of this work and the learning to be taken forward. It will be of interest to policy makers, politicians, and arts and community organisations who are keen to pursue innovative and creative ways of engaging with homelessness and those who have experienced it.
"This is a precious piece of work which will have a profound effect on us and everyone involved and the sector"
- Matt Peacock, Arts and Homelessness International
"The evaluation report is amazing. It's very eye-catching. I love the splashes of colour and the artworks, poetry and photos that feature…It's great to read the positive impact being a part of the festival has had on people in our communities…I feel like I understand the principles of co-production more after reading this and also how beneficial it was to the festival and how we all worked together…I enjoyed reading it very much"
- Hayley Harman, Underground Lights