The value of artist residencies in the context of remote rural communities of the Netherlands and Lithuania - A comparative case study

Historically, the mobility of artists has had a significant role in global cultural flows, as well as connecting the global with the local. The interaction between art institutions and their audiences is essential to the world of arts and cultural industries for a variety of reasons, including the development of creative businesses and socially valuable leisure forms, education, regional development, and others. This research will present theoretical information and empirical research on “engaged” rural artist residency practices, the value that they provide for local communities, and the contribution they make to the local life and development in the context of remote rural communities of Nida, Lithuania and Diepenheim, the Netherlands. The research is a comparative case study consisting of a thematic analysis of qualitative in-depth interviews with independent members of those local communities and artist residency representatives. One of the primary stimuli for the research is a lack of academic and empirical research on artist residencies in general, as well as the impact of arts on communities. To explore the established problematics, a research question was formulated: RQ: What contribution do “engaged” rural artist residencies make to the life of local communities? In conclusion, this research showed that it is difficult to evaluate the exact contribution the artist residencies make to the life of their local communities, as well as what defined benefits the arts bring to the community. However, this research has added to the global understanding of how the processes of interaction between the local communities and global cultural flow and what benefit it can bring. Additionally, the thesis provided a bit of an insight into the media and business angle of the research, which is principally challenging to find.