Stuart’s arts engagement grew directly from his earlier cultural production theory

Evidence

Far from understanding Stuart’s activities with these organizations as some kind of “hobby” that he took up as a way of leaving behind the “serious” concerns of his earlier theoretical work, it is important to understand that his conceptualization of these arts practices was developed precisely on the basis of his earlier theorization of a variety of forms of cultural production. — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 910