Creative Crisis?

February 16, 2011

This is just a quick post to collect a couple of things that have been bouncing around in my head and in my e-mail box. First, "the monster bag" which was a collaborative Christmas gift for my mom. Camille's monster is on the left and Noah's is on the right. They drew directly on the canvas bag and I embroidered over them. I have to admit it was pretty hard to part with it and maybe one day I can commission my little monster artists to work on another one just for me.

And now onto other creative topics. Like this. Please, take a moment to let your Representative know how you feel about this issue. And if you aren't certain about the need to preserve funding for the arts, read this article about the creativity crisis in the States. Studying creativity, measuring it, teaching it, and looking at ways to foster creativity in the classroom with project based learning...all very interesting stuff, but this section really stood out for me:

Having studied the childhoods of highly creative people for decades, Claremont Graduate University’s Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and University of Northern Iowa’s Gary G. Gute found highly creative adults tended to grow up in families embodying opposites. Parents encouraged uniqueness, yet provided stability. They were highly responsive to kids’ needs, yet challenged kids to develop skills. This resulted in a sort of adaptability: in times of anxiousness, clear rules could reduce chaos—yet when kids were bored, they could seek change, too. In the space between anxiety and boredom was where creativity flourished.
I want to print that last line out and post it around the house. It's a good reminder for all of us, isn't it?
Ren- Lady Of The Arts said...

that bag turned out beautifully- I would imagine it would be very hard to part with!!

se7en said...

Would you look at that gorgeous bag already!!! Love it completely... what a great idea!!!

likeschocolate said...

You might have seen the clip that Dana from 3 giro a couple months ago by Ken Robinson. You can look him up on the internet. He speaks a lot about the crisis in the class room and with the education system here in the states. One of the things that he mentions is that the children are bored out of their brains because the way we teach has not edapted to current day and all it's technology. Children today are exposed to so many media forms but yet are expected to learn in old fashioned ways. Instead of addressing the problem with creativity they just say that the children must have ADD or ADHD and suggest to the parents that they drug them all up. Some of the most inventive people where at one time or another told that their was something wrong with them like ADD. My children loved school in Switzerland. It is too bad they don't have anything like that here in the states. The schools in Switzerland focus on the developement of the whole child. My children created the most beautiful art projects, sang in multiple languages, took swimming lessons, went on hikes, and yet still worked on the basics.

The Andres said...

Just wrote to my representative (who happens to be Tim Wahlberg--hah!) and let him hear a piece of my mind. I also referenced a mutual friend of his daughter's, so he knows that we only have one degree of seperation. He's from a town about five minutes away from mine! He's not good news. Didn't vote for him:) Thanks for passing this on, Lucia!

Hausfrau said...

Fascinating research! Yes, that last line is perfect.

The Andres said...

Can you show me what kind of stitch you use when covering the kids' drawings? I would like to do this with Ella for some future presents. Thanks!

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