A growing number of writers, performers and media and visual artists have shown that the arts can have a significant positive effect on the lives of young people, the elderly, prisoners, people with disabilities, hospital patients and others. This book recounts the histories of 22 arts programs that pioneered the burgeoning field of arts-based community development and social change in America. It is a book about artists as agents of personal and community transformation in the most challenging environments. It tells the stories of a small number of extraordinary artists and arts organizations, and their community-based partners who rediscover the arts as a powerful resource for addressing social problems and building healthy communities. Paperback, 275 pages.