CPAG supports the production of public murals, mosaics, sculptures and space designs in collaboration with community participants.

Concerned with societal relationships to art, the group wanted to establish communication and working creative partnerships between artists and city residents.

[5] The group-created Fabric of our Lives, by Miriam Socoloff and Cynthia Weiss in 1980, lays claim to being the first community-based mosaic in the United States, according to executive director emeritus Jon Pounds.

[9][10] These include large mosaics placed on the walls of highway underpasses, or murals on buildings or train viaducts.

The large glass mosaic "Aqua Interlude & Reflection" (2011), in a pedestrian underpass, was created with the help of a youth project and explores light and water.

[10][11] Another large underpass mural and mosaic, "Growing" (2008) is based around the theme of local community and growth.

"[14] According to Sue-Lyn Erbeck and Marty Bach, this technique can be "loose and improvisational" and describe a representative process involving: "1.

[17] The organization is centered on an elected group of "Core Artists," who have previously worked on or led its projects.