Community Arts Network

CAN creates positive social change through the arts. Unlocking WA’s untold stories through community participation in art, CAN gives voice to the hidden histories of this land and its people.

With its roots planted firmly in the social activism of the 1960s and the early international community arts movement, contemporary CAN continues to unlock Western Australia’s untold stories through community participation in art.

Giving voice to the hidden histories of this land and all of its people, stories and art in all its forms are shared to create positive social change, building inclusion and understanding between people.

Knowing that art transforms communities, CAN has pursued this purpose for 35 years, building relationships that create opportunities for people to determine for themselves what stories best express the diversity of experience, aspiration and imagination alive in Western Australians.

Across its history, CAN’s delivery and partnerships have adapted to the aspirations of its communities and the opportunities of the time with a nimbleness that keeps it relevant and vital, but the lifeblood of the organisation remains its values, which have informed more than 35 years of practice.