"Arts and cultural organizations open our eyes to new and different ways of viewing ourselves and our world, through their creative acts, they stoke creative thinking in all of us - thinking that leads to innovation, invention, and works of balance and beauty. Creative thinking built this region, and we believe creative thinking will sustain it. The health and vitality of our artists and arts and cultural organizations play a critical role in the strength of our economy and the quality of our community life."

President Rip
Rapson of the Kresge Foundation, Detroit

The community with which Common Ground works is undergoing massive physical and social regeneration, with the redevelopment of the flat complexes of Fatima Mansions, St Michael's Estate and the proposed regeneration of Dolphin House.

Over the years Common Ground has developed in parallel with the community, playing an important role in regeneration initiatives to date, building up trusted, strong working relationships within the community and through an active role in programme development processes which explore local arts and culture needs. Marking the starting point of the next stage of our growth, our strategic development programme From People, Blocks & Art has been renamed Cultural Partnerships and Processes to properly reflect our working relationships and methodologies.

 From 2009 to 2011, Common Ground will define cultural entitlement, through research and our core programme Cultural Partnerships and Processes. By examining how we engage with our partners - both arts & community development organisations - and identifying their meeting points, we can work with our partners to define how the arts can become a core value in community life. Ultimately, this will form a model of arts and urban regeneration.

Cultural Partnerships and Processes also provides for practical arts project development and management - bringing artists and the community together in an adult (rather than just youth-centred) context - as well as arts development through cultural process development and planning.

We are currently working with Rialto Community Drug Team in planning, managing and developing a film project called The Story of Fatima. We are a core member of the Steering Group who have recently commissioned filmmaker Vinny Murphy to be the artist-collaborator with the group for 2008 and 2009.