The elusive art coordinator, the merging of art education, art therapy, and art administration in a special needs facility

Three issues were discussed in this paper exploration of an Art Coordinator who directs a community-based art program within the nonprofit Sojourn House. The paper's first issue was the identification of the role and responsibilities of the Art Coordinator directing the CARE program. Then I explored the complex dynamic interactions of Sojourn House's professionals and the Art Coordinator. The final issue was the discovery and understanding of the cultural implication of the incorporation of the CARE program, and thus the role of the Art Coordinator. Stake's cyclical "clock method" guided the observations, individual and group interviews, document reviews, and distribution of questionnaires. Complexity theory and a social systems theory deconstructed the information gathered to form the emergent themes of the interrelationships amongst the organization. The exploration of an Art Coordinator's identity introduces management considerations for art professionals who are collaborating and working as an interdisciplinary organization. The paper's exploration discovers and understands the Art Coordinator's overlapping skill sets from the discrete roles of art therapy, art administration, and art education. The paper discovered that the Art Coordinator's main role is to facilitate knowledge transfer within an organization fostering a communal understanding of the use of art as an intervention to nonprofit organizations.