Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/59350

The “OYOYO” is an art community organization operated by members of a civic volunteer group in Sapporo. Through their activities the members of OYOYO attain the skills to overcome the difficulties of daily living in Japanese modern society and empower others wll being. Although OYOYO is a specialized community in arts, why does this community exercise such an empowering function? This paper provides several lines of evidence that an art community organization can function as “the intermediate area where anybody can negotiate a framework of values throughout their actual practices and conversations. This study will explore generating mechanisms of empowerment by participant observation research.