Shell-less Snail : Reclaiming spatial justice through community-based art education in Taiwan.

This article examines how community-based art education (CBAE) in YongHe, Taiwan, fosters social justice by resisting urban displacement through collaborative, participatory art interventions. Grounded in social justice art education (SJAE) and arts-based participatory action research (AB-PAR), the project engaged local residents, migrant families, and students in co-creating a temporary structure called the Shell-less Snail, which symbolized housing precarity and reclaimed contested public space. Through iterative phases of dialogue, critical inquiry, and collective art-making, participants developed spatial awareness, civic agency, and alternative imaginaries of belonging, while navigating institutional challenges and amplifying marginalized voices. The study highlights the potential of integrating CBAE within formal education to empower youth as agents of systemic change and to reimagine democratic urban futures through embodied, relational, and affective learning.