Artist Lily Yeh on Using Art to Transform and Build Community

This week for the Fall 2011 Creativity + Social Change class, we read "Warrior Angel: The Work of Lily Yeh" by Bill Moskin and Jill Jackson, a paper on hartist/activist/educator Lily Yeh's methodology of using art to transform and build community. Below is a presentation by Lily Yeh at the Bioneers conference, where she spoke about and shared examples and pictures of her work. She has a new book out, as well, called Awakening Creativity: Dandelion School Blossoms, which documents her methodology as implemented at the Dandelion School in Beijing, China, a school for the children of migrant workers. I am honored to be interviewing Lily on Creativity in Play at 12 p.m. EDT on Thursday, November 10. Listen live or download the podcast after it airs.

Video streaming by Ustream

From Collage to What Next

Patterns, images, metaphors and connections from the Fall 2011 Creativity + Social Change class, responding to the collective collage they created in response to "What if we ...?" and "Wouldn't it be nice if ...?" questions about how to link their personal creativity beyond themselves to the community and society. We used the collage as a planning process tool a few weeks ago. The following Wordle was created from ideas they shared as they talked about the images they contributed to the collage.

Creativity at Heart of Society ... An Irish Presidency Vision

By Steven Dahlberg

Why I Should Be President ... The Irish Times recently asked the seven candidates hoping to succeed Irish President Mary McAleese to outline why they believe they would make a good president.

In a statement of a mere 700 words, Labour Party candidate Michael D. Higgins put creativity at the heart of his vision for society, citizenship and development. Higgins also is the former Irish Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht.

• The vision I am offering is of inclusive citizenship in a creative society, as we build a real Republic that makes us proud to be Irish in the world.
• Everyone has a contribution to make – whatever their religion, capacity, origin, orientation or income – and inclusion also means shared responsibility, to each other and to generations yet to come. As president, I would also promote a creative society, combining the best of tradition with the spark of innovation and opening up possibilities in every area of life from education to science to business.
• I would encourage creativity in practical ways, something I did as Ireland’s first minister for the arts in the 1990s, establishing TG4 and a network of local arts venues, and helping transform Irish film from an €11 million into a €186 million industry.
• I see the same potential today in creative industries from games development to artisan foods. However, creativity is, most importantly, a vital part of citizenship and needs to be supported from the ground up, in our communities and schools. As president, I would encourage access to art, music and self-development for every child.

Rare is a politician who truly understands -- beyond lip service -- that the creative imagination, ideas and engagement of every citizen is the raw material that builds community, develops the economy and shapes the political process. Higgins, whose self-description includes "poet,"  deeply understands that developing and expressing one's creative self in society is how one meaningfully engages in learning, work and community. He is a prime example of this personally.

Would that the 2012 United States presidential campaign season would include such a dialogue ...

What role does/should creativity play in engaging U.S. citizens in society? How does Michael D. Higgins' vision inspire you? Is there any connection between such a vision for a creative society and what is happening with #OccupyWallStreet?

Commentary: On Creativity and Motivation

By Daniela Petosa
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:

TED: Dan Pink on the Surprising Science of Motivation
Career analyst Dan Pink examines the puzzle of motivation, starting with a fact that social scientists know but most managers don't: Traditional rewards aren't always as effective as we think. Listen for illuminating stories -- and maybe, a way forward.

Dan strongly believes in incentive design or rewarding employees for their performance. He explains extrinsic motivation and that it works -- depending on the situation. He references a concept known as the Candle Problem. He describes how motivation is being free to be creative and flexible. It is natural as humans to feel motivated with an incentive. Dan makes a compelling case on why we need to change our ways. He states that some rewards work well for some and not others. Some rewards work well for simple tasks because the mind is concentrated and has a narrow focus while difficult and more complex tasks narrow our minds and restrict possibility. He mentions that the more difficult tasks should not be over looked by keeping our minds restricted and to be open in our peripherals.

Dan believes there is a mismatch between what science knows and what business does. He believes the science of motivation: “As long as the task involved only mechanical skill, bonuses worked as they would be expected: the higher the pay, the better the performance, but once the task called for even rudimentary cognitive skill, a larger reward led to poorer performance.” He claims that this isn’t a feeling or a philosophy, but a fact. He divides the brain and categorizes people such as programmers and accountants as left-brain thinkers, while the right-brain thinkers as more creative. Organizations today outsource left-brain tasks overseas because it is easy to automate these activities, while the right-brain individuals have their own candle problem they are facing. Organizations are based on assumptions that are outdated. The solution is not to do more of the wrong things. “We find that financial incentives ... can result in a negative impact on overall performance.” Management is an invention that doesn’t last. To utilize management is to engage in self direction which works the best. To strengthen a business and solve candle problems, enhance creativity to drive individuals to do things that matter for their own sake. Dan concludes that IF-THEN rewards can destroy creativity. Organizations in the 21st century need to encourage individuals to be themselves. Perhaps the world would be a better place. ...

Overall, the presentation by Dan is correct. He makes a strong, science-based case for rethinking motivation. He does get the big picture right. He says that people would prefer activities where they can pursue three things:

• Autonomy: People want to have control over their work.
• Mastery: People want to get better at what they do.
• Purpose: People want to be part of something that is bigger than they are.

Top management sets the basic compensation and benefits structure. If that isn't perceived as fair and consistent, then natural, intrinsic motivation won't kick in. I personally applied a reward program at work and added a creative touch to it. I had employees compete amongst each other for prizes and as a result the staff was happier and generated more sales. Organizations need to implement a design where it will both benefit the company, as well as employees. If the employees are happy, the business will succeed.

Commentary: On Creative Economies

By Michael Vinci
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:

Creative Economy Association of the North Shore
We are Massachusetts' think tank for greater creative and economic success. CEANS supports the growth of the creative economy in the North of Boston Shore Region, and the individuals who work within creative fields.

This video is a surprisingly miniature version of the Connecting Creative Communities Conference. There were people who wanted to promote creativity in their area. This video briefly profiles the Creative Economy Association of the North Shore (CEANS) of Massachusetts. They really just want their neighborhoods to make money (which is great!). People can find ways to draw people into their communities using creativity and that is good for everyone. Unfortunately, some people may think that their communities are not creative. Take for example:

• Waterbury, Connecticut, which is home of the Timex watch company. If the people there had not been creative then we would not have the styles of watches we now consider to be classic and timeless (no pun intended).
• New Britain, Connecticut, was and still is to some degree the home of Stanley Works. If not for the creativity of the people who worked in the factories we would not have many of the machining techniques we now have today.
• In Hartford, Connecticut, the insurance capital of the world, many principles and guidelines for writing policies were no doubt developed.

The bottom line is that there is something everywhere that makes any specific community unique. People had cows and used their milk for many, many years, but until the creative Louis Pasteur thought about how he could make that milk safer and last longer the world did not have the technique of pasteurization.

People everywhere are creative in their own ways and it is always showing. We just need to see it!

Commentary: On Creativity in the Workplace from 'Just Shoot Me'

By Lissette Rios
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:

Just Shoot Me: Blush Gets Some Therapy

Commentary:
Communication is extremely important in our life. We need to have excellent communication skills at work, school, church, home, etc., in order to succeed. There are many people who know how to communicate well; others have bad or poor communication skills, while still others have no communication skills at all.

The video clip that I chose is from the sitcom, “JUST SHOOT ME.” This show is about a fashion magazine so you know that the screen writers always need to be creative when writing the episodes. In the video clip, we see that the employees are having a group dynamics session with a therapist. There was miscommunication within the staff so the owner of the Blush magazine decided to address the issue with the help of a therapist.

My opinion about this clip is that the originality was excellent. I love the therapist’s group dynamic and how he addressed the bad communication within the group. He said, “Today we are a car” and asked each one of the members to make a noise that resembles a car. The team started to make the noise, which sounded terrible. Then, he said, “That’s how it is when we communicate badly.” The exercise made the point across the team. I believe that this type of creative activity helps people to recognize their issues without pointing fingers. Once again, creativity is important in our life.

Creativity helps us to address a negative quality of someone without making the person feel bad or uncomfortable. Like the video clip showed (and we learned in class), these types of creative activities do not depend on age, length of employment, type of work, level of education, etc. In the process of any particular activity, we could learn to be non-judgmental. That did not happen on that episode, but hey, each character in “JUST SHOOT ME” has his or her personality, and sarcasm sometimes makes us laugh. It’s a great show, if you want to have a good laugh you ought to watch the reruns.

We should have creative exercises like this one in the workplace; especially for this particular issue, COMMUNICATION. I did a research on creative activities for the workplace and communication and came to the conclusion that they can be used as icebreakers or warm ups before a meeting. They aer simple, inexpensive and most of all, FUN. I will be doing one at work and I’ll ask everyone to provide their honest feedback because in our last pulse survey, communication was one of our weaknesses. The activity that I am planning on doing (see below) will cover the other side of communication which is, “good listening.”

Paper-Tearing Exercise
Time Allocation: 5 minutes
Materials: Blank 8 ½-by-11-inch sheets of paper for each participant

Instructions:

1. Tell the participants the following: “We are going to play a game that will show us some important things about communication. Pick up your sheet of paper and hold it in front of you. Now, close your eyes and follow the directions I will give you—and no peeking!" Participants cannot ask questions.
2. Give the following directions, carrying them out yourself with your own sheet of paper and pausing after each instruction to give the group time to comply:
   “The first thing I want you to do is to fold your sheet of paper in half. Now tear off the upper right-hand corner. Fold it in half again and tear off the upper left hand corner of the sheet. Fold it in half again. Now tear off the lower right-hand corner of the sheet.”
3. After the tearing is complete, say something like, “Now open your eyes, and let’s see what you have. If I did a good job of communicating and you did a good job of listening, all of our sheets should look the same!” Hold your sheet up for them to see. It is highly unlikely any sheet will match yours exactly.
4. Observe the differences. There will probably be much laughter.
5. Ask the group why no one’s paper matched yours. (You will probably get responses like “You didn’t let us ask questions!” or “Your directions could be interpreted in different ways.”) Then, lead into a presentation on the need for two-way communication in the workplace.

In What Ways Might Imagination Improve Society?

206 IDEAS GENERATED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT 'CREATIVITY + SOCIAL CHANGE' STUDENTS ON 6 APRIL 2010 - HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT

What's YOUR idea for how imagination might improve society? Add your ideas in the comments section below. And plan now to participate in the Connecticut Imagination Conversation on Monday, April 19, in Hartford, Connecticut ... or host your own Imagination Conversation in your community.

1. Communicating
2. Open communication between groups
3. Stop cancer
4. Stop juvenile diabetes
5. Stop crimes within the same community
6. Feed the world
7. Improve living conditions
8. Respect people's sexuality
9. Discover or create new ways to safely and effectively mass produce food and other products
10. Lead to more openness, diversity, tolerance and integration of differences
11. Encourage creative conversations
12. Invest in creative education
13. End child abuse
14. Education will become an adventure that children will crave - no more dropping out
15. Tell them that you are happy with imagination, then they will join you
16. Teach the youth manners and morals so that they can grow
17. Create tolerance
18. Stop hunger
19. Celebrate diversity
20. Neighbors of the community care for each other more
21. Stop poverty
22. Be positive
23. Stop hate
24. Appreciate or accept people stepping out of the norm
25. I can use my imagination to encourage prisoners
26. Think before you act
27. Treat one the way you want to be treated
28. Providing ideas with individuals in society to solve problems
29. Teamwork or brainstorming in a group
30. Clarity of mind and soul
31. Respect life as a whole
32. Read other people's minds
33. Work with other people's strengths
34. Help those who need us the most
35. Fight racism -> open mindedness
36. Peace with others
37. Improve self-esteem
38. Encourage more active, positive citizen engagement
39. Encourage others to join organization
40. End homelessness
41. Creative ways to be healthy, maintain health, regain health, defeat disease
42. Show the society how important they are, then they will accept it
43. Through education
44. Team work
45. Talking things out
46. Appreciation of different types of beauty
47. Fly to new, livable planets
48. By laughing
49. Build a healthier place for my kids and other kids
50. Open-mindedness
51. Make a commitment
52. Love the curvalicious
53. Travel to new dimensions
54. Travel through time and space
55. I can use my imagination to help my own community
56. End frivolous spending in government
57. To infinity and beyond - explore the universe within and without
58. By coming up with different solutions for different issues
59. Helping neighbors, taking care of each other's children, watching out for one another
60. Allowing expression through art, music, theater and dance
61. Reading books
62. Give importance to all animals
63. Have a moment of silent (regrouping)
64. Live life ... one life, one blood, one love
65. Make batteries that never have to recharge for my cell phone and laptop
66. Make batteries that are environmentally friendly when disposed or recycled
67. Eliminate existing regulations against farmers in Connecticut
68. Open new doors
69. Greater-good technology
70. Warm, nurturing environment to support the development of great ideas
71. Through education, broadcasting
72. Through billboards
73. Playing a game on team building
74. Promote trust among individuals
75. "The world can live as one"
76. Live forever - never die
77. Don't be afraid of death
78. Stop discrimination among us
79. Say no to Botox
80. Play
81. Get kids to be more physically active and healthy
82. Move
83. I can use my imagination to improve the unemployment rate
84. Creative community building - creating jobs
85. Build magnificent cities - buildings, gathering places, parks, museums, schools, etc.
86. Make sufficient information available to the community
87. Visiting the sick
88. Helping those in need (homeless)
89. Believing in yourself
90. Make veggies taste better
91. Build places that encourage creativity, instead of limiting it (i.e., Billings Forge and the G. Fox Building, respectively)
92. Encourage kids to continue with school and get educated
93. "Imagine there's no hunger, I wonder if we can"
94. Plant a tree
95. By communication
96. Travel to the past
97. Help third world countries
98. Bring out technologies that do not already exist. Similar to how real technologies can follow the imaginative, fiction-based technologies proposed in science fiction. How culture and arts can "invent" technology.
99. I can help the youth thing critically and explore their creativity
100. Creating meaningful jobs, reducing unemployment
101. Create/implement ways to care for and preserve the earth for generations to come
102. Make creativity a learning tool for society
103. Live Love Laugh
104. Have a social gathering
105. Love your neighbors
106. Less serious
107. Downloadable intelligence and knowledge (like in the Matrix)
108. It could give us new games to play
109. Share more with people in the community
110. Living for today
111. Spread the word by gathering with others or making a Web site for a fundraiser.
112. Interact with others more
113. Imagination can improve society through additional ideas being deposited into the "idea bank" and when there are more options, it can lead to more solutions to problems
114. Decrease the crimes among teenagers
115. Increase ideas among everyone (not just children)
116. Educate children to be creative
117. Spread the love
118. Encourage uniqueness
119. Marketplace of ideas
120. I can bring peace to the world
121. End drug abuse
122. Life will be interesting, stimulating, purposeful and a delight
123. Involve some stipends; it will bring people's interest
124. Ignite idea that would improve the community
125. Having dinner together - everyone likes to eat
126. Love like you haven't been hurt before
127. Humor - entertainment
128. Comedians will have better jokes and can make us laugh in different ways
129. Help people in the community to be more humble and to care for others
130. Open communication
131. Get some fresh air and fresh ideas
132. Live Love Laugh for a better me
133. Improve self-esteem and community confidence
134. I can use my imagination to create a farm
135. Improve or encourage people to eat healthier since one of my imaginings is about promoting organic food
136. Stop judgment
137. Improve the environment
138. Improve economy
139. Lead to healthier school lunches
140. Lead to healthier planet and humans
141. I can spread love throughout the world
142. Proper treatment of animals
143. Crime will decrease as there is openness, acceptance, a place for all
144. It will create jobs; many will participate
145. Share ideas
146. Hand shaking and hugging each other
147. Peace and love for every creature in the world
148. Stop greed and pointless want in society
149. Lead to society being more collaborative as opposed to individualistic -> solve problems together
150. Increase mental capacity about a problem
151. I can join different organizations within the community and help them resolve issues
152. Decrease unemployment
153. Accept each other
154. More advertisements/commercials
155. Through prayers
156. Listen to others
157. Less technology and more free play (outside)
158. "Imagine all the people, living life in peace"
159. Birth control that is 100% effective
160. Guns that are truly idiot-proof
161. Decrease healthy activities in kids in our community
162. Go shopping
163. By maximizing its potential
164. Establish better problem solving skills to introduce to children in school
165. By fostering problem solving potential in students and society's youth
166. My imagination can help encourage others
167. I can bring a sense of joy to others
168. Reduce teen drug abuse
169. Harmony and connectedness and unity among all cultures
170. Do it in many different ways, even in different languages, others will enjoy
171. Create something to challenge the community
172. Don't be judgmental
173. Challenge everyone to be the person they were meant to be; no judgment if that person turns out to be different than you expected
174. Open minded
175. Growth
176. Defer judgment
177. Improve existing ideas
178. Keeping a smile on people's faces
179. Decrease homelessness
180. Develop spirituality
181. Make known to the society why it is important
182. Be creative in arts and music
183. Develop strategies as a team or group
184. Dance
185. "No need for greed or hunger, a brotherhood of man"
186. Never have traffic jams on the highway
187. Exploring new areas and investing tourist dollars in them
188. Focus on those young kids forgotten by parents and provide them with the love their parents don't give them
189. Free spirit
190. New ideas
191. Globalization
192. Defer judgment
193. Engage students more in their learning experience
194. Defer judgment
195. I can create a community organization to improve the community
196. Creative after-school programs
197. Being there for each other in neighborhoods
198. Keep kids out of trouble
199. Purpose and work for all
200. Do it with others, you will succeed
201. Go hiking with kids
202. Bring more family togetherness
203. The world is your family, embrace your diversity
204. Stop hate and war
205. Help globalize an economy while preventing the fall of local business
206. Care more for our elderly

# # #

67 IDEAS GENERATED BY THE RHODE ISLAND COLLEGE 'THE AMERICAN NONPROFIT SECTOR AND PHILANTHROPY II' STUDENTS ON 7 APRIL 2010 - PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND

What's YOUR idea for how imagination might improve society? Add your ideas in the comments section below. And plan now to participate in the Connecticut Imagination Conversation on Monday, April 19, in Hartford, Connecticut ... or host your own Imagination Conversation in your community.

1. By creating a bike trail that goes through the whole town
2. Clean-up crews for the community
3. Neighborhood closeness to reduce crime/increase community
4. Help community to produce better housing for diverse people
5. Imagination could show people parts of the place they live like they've never seen them before
6. Dig a deep, underground housing complex
7. Build better buildings
8. Make environment of community
9. More conducive to green technology - less polluted
10. Could add beauty to community art projects, music, opportunities to participate
11. Imagine ways to be more energy efficient
12. Have a community-wide BBQ
13. Creativity in finding solutions to health problems
14. Create dams and levies
15. Think out of day-to-day procedures -> fill someone else's shoes for a day (i.e., public/union workers and laymen)
16. Space travel
17. Off to civilization (arts, theater, etc)
18. Better public welfare systems
19. Improve different fuel sources
20. Renewable energy
21. New ways of communication
22. Improve transportation
23. Make community more fun to live in
24. Create another system in some part of space (zoning)
25. Better government system
26. Better transportation system
27. Better schools
28. Better cars
29. More ways to share resources
30. Increase social interaction
31. Thinking outside the box for creative solutions to common problems
32. Better land use
33. Imagining a better community - like better schools - imagine what we wanted schools to be filled with when we were kids - putting it into action
34. Children govern the adults as they have better grip on imagination
35. Offer community-wide movie showings
36. Improve arts
37. Find different resources - imagine possible venues
38. Better ways to share resources
39. More accessible buildings with less technology handprint
40. Provide creative ways for people to make social connections - community projects
41. Find new uses for the resources/food sources near you
42. Have a community garden to grow food
43. Improve environment
44. Create a center for the arts
45. Community cooking classes - take garden product and put in school lunches
46. To expand people's minds to new things
47. To expand the local business base of the community
48. Provide opportunities for people to be things they've imagined - musicians, painter, teacher ...
49. Have a town-wide pajama day
50. Improve opportunities for high school graduates
51. Healthier consumer products/food
52. "Own" a block for clean up and community pride
53. Time travel
54. Imagination can give a community a different perception of old things
55. Recycle old things into props; or add areas in parks with toy boxes or props
56. Have playgrounds on every block
57. Better ways toward health care
58. Create climate of creativity to problem solve as community
59. Get out of our houses and interact with people
60. Better transportation for people with mobility problems
61. New social interactions that are authentic, unplugged and involve storytelling
62. Have a community clean-up day
63. Creative activities in classrooms
64. Create a community center
65. Recycle end products to use waste in different ways
66. Just go clean up a neighborhood without asking for anything
67. Involve more people in volunteer projects for community

Commentary: On Playing for Change's 'Stand By Me'

By Josefina Tiburcio
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:

Playing For Change: Episode 2, "Stand By Me"
Four years ago while walking down the street in Santa Monica, Calif., the voice of Roger Ridley singing “Stand By Me” was heard from a block away. His voice, soul and passion set us on a course around the world to add other musicians to his performance. This song transformed Playing For Change from a small group of individuals to a global movement for peace and understanding. This track features more than 35 musicians collaborating from all over the world. They may have never met in person, but in this case, the music does the talking.

Commentary:
This class is about exploring “Creativity and Social Change,” which is why the video, “Stand By Me,” captured my attention from the minute I watched it. The people that had the bright idea of putting this video together are very creative and are making positive social changes in society, as well as in communities all over the world. Furthermore, the name of their Web site speaks for itself -- Playing for Change.

Based on what I experienced when I watched this, I strongly believe that the creativity in this video can touch our hearts and possibly awaken the feeling and emotions that many of us hide deep inside of us. It is amazing to see how all of the people singing in the video are connected by the same passion for the music and the sound of the different instruments. Some of them actually make very nice musical sounds with different objects they play -- possibly invented or created by themselves.

The possibility of being connected by similar emotional pains exists. These pains could be caused by different circumstances in life (homelessness, hunger, loneliness caused by separation or loss of loved ones, rejection from society, etc.), but in the end, lead people to feel similar emotional pain as reflected in this video.

Most importantly, this video can impact the viewers in a positive way by making them feel compassion toward other people in society, regardless of their origin, race, color, culture and social class. This compassion for others in society is what we need. It is the tool that can trigger our desires to make a change in the life of an individual, a community, society -- and mainly in ourselves.

For instance, the first person who sings in the video, Roger Riedly, seems to be a homeless person. At the end of the song, people from the community approached his bag and made a contribution. Also, there is a possibility that the doors to the music world open up for one or more people singing and playing in this video, as an individual or company seeking new artists may become interested in them either as a singer or instrument player.

Finally, I think the creative idea of getting all these people from different parts of the world together in a single video is amazing. There is no doubt that creativity can impact our lives a lot in a positive way. Creativity not only help us to be or become creative, but it also helps us to discover the gift of the creative mind some of us already possess, but have not yet discover. At the same time, it help us to better appreciate the ideas and creative thinking of others, as well as realizing that creativity can come from anyone and anywhere. After taking the "Creativity + Social Change" class, the term “underestimate others" becomes history for some or all the students that experience this class.

Creativity in the Classroom Workshop at The Aldrich - Monday

CREATIVITY IN THE CLASSROOM
A creative education workshop for teachers, administrators, and parents ... with Facilitator Steven Dahlberg, Director, International Centre for Creativity and Imagination
==========================
MONDAY, MARCH 22, 2010, 4:00-6:30 P.M.
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum
258 Main Street, Ridgefield, CT 06877
$30 (members)/$35 (non-members)
.2 CEUs available
Register online:
http://www.aldrichart.org/events/?id=642
==========================

CREATIVITY IN THE CLASSROOM
Creativity includes -- and is more than -- the arts. Creative thinking is a twenty-first century skill that applies to all subjects, all grade levels, and all ages. It is a skill that prepares students and adults for a rapidly changing world, where complex problems do not have pre-defined, easy solutions.
Creativity involves creative and critical thinking skills that can be taught, practiced, and applied in all curriculums. In this workshop, you will:
* Explore what creativity is, who has it, and how to unleash more of it.
* Think about thinking ... and learn how to think in new ways.
* Learn and practice applied creative thinking skills.
* Discover styles and types of creative thinking within the creative process.
* Connect creativity to the classroom.

ABOUT THE FACILITATOR
Steven Dahlberg is head of the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination, which is dedicated to applying creativity to improve the well-being of individuals, organizations and communities. He works with the Public and Community Engagement program at the University of Connecticut,
where he teaches the "Creativity + Social Change" course. More info at:
http://www.appliedimagination.org

REGISTER NOW
For registration and further information please contact:
Suzanne Ryan
Museum Educator
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum
seryan @ aldrichart . org
203.438.4519

Creative Community: Radar Fourteen: Honey, I Shrunk Red Hook

When curator Laura Arena approached MIT’s Luis Blackaller & Andy Cavatorta, her brief was simple: create something that initiates interaction between the inhabitants of the neighborhood. From the Portuguese fisherman to the Projects, to the artists and hipsters, to a new influx of people, Lucky Gallery sits at the crux of several different communities, none of whom talk, but acknowledge each other as familiar strangers. Luis and Andy’s response was to build a miniature version of Red Hook and populate it with photographic doll versions of people they met and talked to on the street. We join Luis and Andy as they prepare for the opening and watch as the element of play in a virtual world impacts communication in the real one.

A Tour of 'Creativity and Social Change' in Society ... Creativity, Aging and Purposeful Life

• Young @ Heart
  


• Carmen Herrera, 94-year-old artist - New York Times profile