Conducting a Dissertation by Implication: Showing Up as Relational Method in Community-Engaged Arts-Based Research

Developing arts-based research that integrates community members making and testimony requires finding willing and eager participants. While existing scholarship in community-based art education emphasizes the need for ethical engagement with participants and communities, it often frames finding community partners as a logistical hurdle rather than a relational endeavour. This paper draws on two embedded arts-based doctoral dissertations to propose ‘showing up’ and getting involved in community as a relational approach to embedding for community-engaged arts-based research situated within broader forms of relational ethnography. We argue getting involved offers core benefits for researchers and community sites, and propose strategies for arts-based researchers developing community projects.