My work over the past nine years has been consistent in the exploration of social forms. However, eleven years ago, a major change took place that resulted in my current work. In 1991, a group of high school students toured my studio. One interested student quizzed me and complimented me on my work. He confirmed that my large murallike painting and cut out figures depicting injustice reflected his view of the world and his community. Before leaving my studio he had one last thing to say. "Your work is great, but we don't need people defining problems in our community. We know what the problems are. We need solutions. If artists are so creative why can't they create solutions?" I perceived the student's remarks as a challenge to make work that is more than symbolic. Work that provides some practical transformative elements became my focal point. I became interested in creating work that expresses ideals and empowers the will to create change. It was at this point that I could clearly see that my work was changing from selfexpression to collectiveexpression. Instead of expressing the ideals of people in a community through a form that I controlled completely from the outside, I became interested in the collective action of a group as the content, form, and material of the work. This new way of working has put me in the center of my work. Artist-in-residencies are my way of making.

My work is deeply influence by the ideas of Joseph Beuys. He advocated an artform he called "Social Sculpture" conceived as "the way in which we shape and mold the world around us." In Beuys' tradition, I recognize that my work is about community building and facilitating expression of a collective creativity. I also recognize the profound creativity that is untapped in everyone, and certainly unrecognized in the many myths about lowincome, innercity AfricanAmerican neighborhoods. As an artist, I am interested in being a form builder for the profound creativity in the people around us for the purpose of esthetically shaping and molding our communities. Myself and my collaboratorsmy work almost always requires me to work collaboratively with a team of artists, architects, administrators and community memberswork together to give expression to the issues and aspirations of our community.

For example, Project Row Houses is a catalyst for realizing a community development project that has broader and more meaningful implications than conventional development projects. The project is at once neighborhood development, historic preservation, public art and a conduit for educational activities and community services. The realization of this project has involved a broad coalition of diverse racial, cultural, economic and professional people from inside and outside Third Ward together with corporations and foundations to renovate these houses and implement its comprehensive art, education and social programs. The project has become a nexus of tremendous energy and experience. It has become a fluid conversation between people of the most diverse backgrounds in important issues of ethics, race relations, social justice, historic preservation, economic sufficiency and the role that art and architecture play in our lives and our surrounding communities

As with the Delray Beach Cultural Loop, I have been fortunate to expand the horizons of my work by having the opportunity to assist or work collaboratively with broad groups of like-minded artists in Los Angeles, West Philadelphia and now Charleston in 2002-2003. With these artists, I am interested in exploring ways in which artists could together creatively marshal the considerable energies and experience of particular communities for the collective survival of communitybased and boundarybreaking art projects where there is little to no support. This collaboration, like all of my work, is a process of navigation towards a realization of a most creative expression. I hope my work contributes to the development of the artistic potential of the community, all of them that exist within the happily expanding circle of my involvement.

Rick Lowe
Houston, Texas