Closing Note from the President

from Research in Education and Arts Practice (REAP@NAFA) Issue 3 - Living in Liminality

Renderings of Arts-Based Methodology

Closing Note

It has been engaging to see how arts practice and education has taken flight through NAFA’s practiceoriented research efforts.

I’ve had the pleasure to read about your explorations, and I thank colleagues for making the effort to pursue this path of deep inquiry.

For me, good art is not the same as good artistic research. Good artistic research does not necessarily lead to good art. But artistic research has to be done. Because without research, we cannot uncover deep insights that have not been previously known, and we cannot create new knowledge nor develop fresh perspectives that will shine the light for new possibilities.

Artistic research becomes especially important when it touches you, shakes you and offers many alternatives to what you already know. This demands courage and risk.

This adventure that you have taken, has provided you with this opportunity to set aside time to think, make the intuitive explicit, to learn and to unlearn, to provoke and to stimulate interaction through your research. This spells great courage and your passion to bring the arts to a higher level.

Now that you have gone on this wonderful journey and experienced the fulfillment of engaging in research, I hope you will encourage other colleagues to join you on this journey, and that you will continue to make artistic research a key part of your professional work.