Awards

CAP received the Cultural Development Project of the Year Award for 1998 from the Art and Culture Trust of the President. Below is a nomination CAP received from SADEP of the University of the Western Cape.

University of the Western Cape

Ms. N. du Plessis
Administrator
The ACT Awards
Arts and Culture Trust of the President

28 April 1998

Dear Ms. Du Plessis

Re: Nomination for "Cultural development project of the year": the Community Arts Project

We would like to nominate the Community Arts Project for the award offered by the Arts & Culture Trust of the President for "Cultural development project of the year".

In our opinion CAP continues to distinguish itself through a number of unique achievements. These include the following:

1. Fighting poverty through the arts

CAP serves adults who come largely from the economically challenged communities, more specifically the townships surrounding Cape Town. An accessible fee structure and policy is in place, which enables learners who cannot afford to pay market related fees, or even CAP's low fees, to work for CAP in exchange for paying fees. This means that CAP's services are not free, but they also do not exclude learners who lack adequate financial resources.

However this fee policy would be meaningless on its own, except that it is coupled with a focus on developing income generating skills. CAP must be one of the few arts projects which openly acknowledges the economic aspects of development, and which links the development of arts skills to micro-enterprise training.

2. Redressing the educational imbalances created by apartheid through the arts

CAP is one of the very few arts education and training projects where adults denied the benefits of a good education in the past, can apply and be accepted regardless of limited formal qualifications.

Again this would be virtually meaningless, except that it is coupled with an emerging qualifications framework for general and further education and training. This framework takes cognizance of the need to develop literacy and numeracy as an integral part of training in the arts, and means that shortly CAP will be in a position to offer meaningful qualifications under the National Qualifications Framework.

3. Involvement of learners in key structures and processes

CAP's commitment to empowering learners is evident on a number of levels. Firstly there is a functional Learners Representative Council (LRC) which is directly represented by four members in monthly Education committee meetings with CAP's education staff, as well as in strategic planning workshops held twice a year. Secondly there exists a direct commitment to empower the LRC, and learners in general, through making accessible key information such as budgets, funding proposals and reports. This is supported by workshops where the LRC is empowered to understand and engage with this material, as well as being trained in the necessary skills to run a LRC. The organization's commitment to the above is substantiated by the fact that despite limited financial resources, a Student Liaison Officer post has been created in order to ensure meaningful learner participation and empowerment.

4. Redefining relationships to, and developing partnerships with government departments

Unlike many ngo's which continue to work in parallel with the present governments reconstruction and development agenda, CAP has made major strides in laying the groundwork for partnerships with key government departments. These include Education (inclusive of ABET) and Labour, as well as Arts and Culture. This has been based on the recognition that meeting the needs of historically disempowered constituencies requires a co-ordinated effort on the part of government and civil society. Notwithstanding this emerging partnership, CAP engages these departments in the spirit of constructive criticism, as was evident in the NQF workshop called by CAP where various government departments were given the opportunity to present and discuss their policies and programs with a range of arts and culture ngo's.

5. Developing links with other arts and culture providers

CAP is playing a key role in developing an awareness of the NQF amongst arts and culture role-players, and in mobilizing them to participate in the implementation of the NQF. In addition CAP is developing practical partnerships with a range of providers who provide learning or career pathways for CAP's learners. Some of these have led to CAP graduates getting work experiance through placements, for example with Baxter Theatre, and also in being accepted at other learning institutions.

The above points demonstrate the vision and commitment of CAP towards the empowering of historically disadvantaged communities, and it would be a fitting tribute to CAP as a "development stalwart" that it receive recognition in this era of transformation.

We understand that CAP will submit further documentation to you which should affirm our view that they be seriously considered for this award.

Yours in the quest for cultural development!

Ms. Vivienne Taylor
Director