The "Art" of Community.

This article reports that when the FIC named its conference series "The Art of Community," it wasn't a public relations ploy. That simple phrase conveys the essence of building and sustaining intentional communities. Living in community is analogous to other artistic pursuits such as ballet, writing poetry, or painting with watercolors. There are four areas of community living that can serve as vital signs for the health of any group, namely, vision, leadership, accomplishments, and morale. An accurate assessment of those areas can be a useful tool for predicting whether a community is going to thrive or whither. Communities that thrive tend to have a clearly articulated common purpose, especially those accompanied by a logical plan for implementation. Some groups rely on a founder or other inspiring individual to articulate and reaffirm the vision, some have a leadership core group, and others are thoroughly decentralized.