Art projects have been staged in Japan since the 1990s. The features of an art project are collaborating works among artists, volunteers, and local residents. By these features, an art project can be a tool of community development. The aim of this paper is to examine whether an art project actually helped develop communities. Seven islands located in the Setouchi Inland Sea, being scarcely populated and rapidly aging communities, hosted the Setouchi International Art Festival and many collaborative art projects were performed. By examining the impact of the art projects on the island communities, it is possible to see how the art projects affected the local people and the communities. A questionnaire survey conducted by Muroi in 2011 and a fact-finding survey conducted by the author in 2011 were utilized to analyze the various impacts and grassroots facts. It was found that the art projects promoted human relationships and community development activities, although they varied depending on the local situations. Based on these analyses, several conditions for staging an art project to enhance community and human wellbeing are pointed out.

本研究は平成23年度から平成26年度にわたる科学研究費補助金基盤研究C課題番号23530675による研究成果公表の一部である。