Give & Take

Knowledge and curiosity are the catalysts for Give & Take, a public art project created by Works Progress in 2009. We launched Give & Take as a series of monthly gatherings at Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis to encourage relationships, reciprocity and resilience in our community. Initial funding came from a Metropolitan Regional Arts Council Community Arts Grant. The project has since evolved into an open source public engagement project that opens space for face-to-face exchange of ideas and resources in many different communities.

Give & Takes is comprised of interactive presentations by community members, participatory social games developed by Works Progress and other Give & Take organizers, and ample opportunity for conversation and exchange.

With funding from the Bush Foundation we’re developing and producing a new Give & Take Kit that anyone can use to put the principles of this project into action. What we hope to develop next is a digital tool to accompany the project, enabling us to scale the Give & Take Kit regionally and then nationally; to create a hub for neighborhood and community organizers to develop and share new interactive Give & Take games, and to provide Give & Take organizers with an online tool to document, map and share the ideas and connections that emerge through their work. The Give & Take Kit will be available for purchase in May of 2014. The website project will remain in development as we pursue support.