The DIA Center in NY hosted several projects a few years ago that
touched on this subject within larger contexts. I remember talking with
a intern at another institution about them and he was disturbed by the
way museums use these programs to promote themselves at the expense of
the participants. He was in his position through such a program but felt
museums constructed images of disadvantaged youths being "saved" from
their condition through culture. He thought "rich" kids often need
cultural civilizing more than poor.

In any case, the projects have been documented in the DIA "Discussions
in Contemporary Culture" series as:

#6: If You Lived Here...The City in Art, Theory, and Social Activism: A
Project by Martha Rosler

#5: Democracy: A Project by Group Material

The books can be ordered from the DIA Center web site:
http://diacenter.org/books/dcc/dcc.html

There was also an exhibit of work by Tim Rollins/KOS at the DIA and the
catalog addressed these issues. Rollins had planned to build an actual
school building for KOS at one point but I don't know what has come of
it.

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ROBBIN MURPHY, creative director, artnetweb
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