Arts Explorer #1: What does creativity mean to me?

Tough question. I'm going to bring in some experts...

According to Dr. Betty Edwards (1989), from her book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain:

Creativity is the ability to find new solutions to a problem or new modes of expression; thus it brings into existence something new to the individual and to the culture. 

You'll notice she uses the word new three times in this definition. Must be important!

Going back to my first three posts, I think creativity in the sense of finding "new solutions to a problem" or coming up with "new modes of expression" involves allowing yourself to step into new ways of seeing or a fresh perspective. It also involves courage because this newness often comes with  uncertainty. We have to be vulnerable to be creative and that can be really scary. Finally, being vulnerable connects to the idea of being open: we have to accept Martha Graham's idea that we are each a unique channel of expression and it is our responsibility to stay open. She writes that it is not up to us to decide if what we are creating is good or bad, but just to keep creating and keep expanding...

Howard Gardner, in Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century, wrote that:

People are creative when they can solve problems, create products or raise issues in a domain in a way that is initially novel but is eventually accepted in one or more cultural settings...The acid test of creativity is simple: in the wake of a putatively creative work, has the domain subsequently been changed? (p. 116)

Well, Howard, we can't be sure if something we're doing will solve a particular problem or be transformative in a given domain, so for me, creativity is really about opening new worlds. Sometimes they're small, sometimes they're big. Sometimes we open new world for ourselves and sometimes it is for others. As educators, we need to be creative and make space for children to be creative. Every child is differeny and we need to respond creatively to their uniqueness. The children we work with will grow up to live in a world that doesn't exist yet, so they need to get into adaptive habits of mind in order to survive. Creativity is literally a survival skill and it doesn't just apply to painting, drawing, dancing, or playing an instrument. Everyone has the capacity to be creative and all domains of knowledge can benefit when we learn to tap into this capacity.

To close, I wanted to show you a video that a friend sent me today. An amazing example of opening a new world...

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References 

Edwards, B. (1989). Drawing on the right side of the

 

     brain. New York: Tarcher.

 

Gardner, H. (1999). Intelligence reframed: Multiple

 

     Intelligences for the 21st century. New York:

 

     Basic Books.