2-Day Creativity Conference in April in Connecticut

An exciting, two-day conference -- "Advancing Creative Thinking: Imagination to Innovation" -- will take place in Ridgefield, Conn., on Friday, April 27, and Saturday, April 28, 2012. The conference is presented by The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield Library, and Ridgefield Arts Council, along with media sponsor, The Morris Media Group.

This cross-disciplinary conference will explore creativity and the creative process through the lenses of imagination and innovation -- which are at the heart of the creative process in every discipline, from the arts to education to business to government. While imagination opens up new possibilities, innovation seeks and identifies new opportunities for critical thinking and creative problem solving. A diverse range of keynote sessions, cross-disciplinary conversations, panel dialogues, and workshops will focus on the creative process and demonstrate that creative thinking is truly a necessary skill for the twenty-first century.

Friday’s opening keynote will feature New York Times tech columnist David Pogue on "Disruptive Creativity: How Bright Ideas Change Everything." The conference will close on Saturday evening with Nicholas Donofrio, fellow emeritus at IBM, on "Innovation for the 21st Century. "

During the day on Saturday, participants will have many programs to choose from ...

Creative Conversations include:

• "Stories of Innovation Success" with Matt Greeley, CEO of BrightIdea, and others.
• "Creative Models for Towns and Cities" with Linda Lees, founder and director of Creative Cities, and others.
• "Artistry Unleashed" with Hilary Austin from the Rotman School of Business at the University of Toronto.

Participatory Workshops will encourage attendees to put the creative process into practice:

• "Altered Books" with artist and illustrator Katie Stephenson.
• "Drawing: Gray Matters!" with Claire Watson Garcia from the Silvermine School of Art.
• "Sparking Idea Engines: How to Inspire Creative Breakthroughs" with Brian Mattimore, founder and principal of The Growth Engine.
• And more!

The speakers are drawn from the arts, education, business, technology and government sectors, including affiliations with the New York Times, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Jump Associates, BrightIdea, IBM, dosomething.org, International Centre for Creativity and Imagination, Alliance for Childhood, Creative Cities International, University of Toronto, University of Connecticut, and others. Presenters are coming from locations including Ireland, Toronto, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Boston, New York City, and San Francisco.

 

CONFERENCE REGISTRATION:

• $125 - full-conference ticket for Friday afternoon to Saturday evening.
• $95 - All-day Saturday programs only, including the evening reception and keynote.
• $35 - Friday-evening keynote and reception only.
• $35 - Saturday-evening reception and keynote only.
• $25 - A special, pre-conference program for educators (including the following reception at The Aldrich) -- featuring Irvin Scott from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Programs will take place at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum and at the Ridgefield Library. Check out the full listing of events and purchase tickets; or call 203-438-2282 for more information.

REMINDER - Connecticut Imagination Conversation Tonight in Hartford

* Join panelists for a CONNECTICUT IMAGINATION CONVERSATION on Unleashing and Harnessing the Imagination in Learning and Work *
THE INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR CREATIVITY AND IMAGINATION AND THE STUDIO @ BILLINGS FORGE PRESENT IMAGINATION CONVERSATIONS: A PROJECT OF LINCOLN CENTER INSTITUTE
==========================
MONDAY, MAY 24, 2010, 7:00-9:00 P.M.
The Studio @ Billings Forge,
539-563 Broad Street
Hartford, Connecticut 06106
Free and open to the public.
RSVP: <http://www.eventbrite.com/event/665180573>
MORE INFO: conversation@appliedimagination.org or
<http://appliedimagination.org/conversation/>

Imagination Conversations bring together citizens from diverse fields -- including education, business, government, arts and nonprofits -- to explore the importance of imagination in life, work and society. Connecticut has a long tradition of creativity, invention and innovation, but the current economic downturn and increased worldwide competition mean that we cannot take our position for granted. Now more than ever, we must nurture imagination in our schools, create
environments for innovation in workplaces, and build cultures for creativity in our communities. Bring your "imagination story" to the second Connecticut Imagination Conversation on May 24. This conversation is part of a national dialogue -- 50 conversations in 50 states -- sponsored by the Lincoln Center Institute to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Join moderators Steven Dahlberg, Director, International Centre for Creativity and Imagination, and Janice La Motta, Program Coordinator, The Studio @ Billings Forge, plus invited guests and citizens from across Connecticut who care about the role of imagination and creativity in society. Guests include Sue Sturtevant, Executive Director and CEO of the Hill-Stead Museum, and Marie O'Brien, President of the Connecticut Development Authority.

ABOUT THE IMAGINATION CONVERSATIONS NATIONALLY:
Imagination, the ability to visualize new possibilities, is a prerequisite for success in the 21st-century global economy. The Imagination Conversations prepare us for the future that requires imagination by:

• Building national awareness of imagination as a vital tool in work and in life.
• Sparking dialogue about imagination across the professional spectrum.
• Leading to the creation of an action plan to make imagination an integral part of American education.

The Imagination Conversations, a project of Lincoln Center Institute and a part of the Lincoln Center 50 Years celebration, run from the fall of 2009 to the spring of 2011. Many are hosted by state government, business, and cultural leaders. They feature diverse groups of panelists with distinctive perspectives and draw a wide range of audience members from the public and private sectors. Moderators facilitate the conversations, some of which reach viewers nationwide via live and archived streaming video. This two-year initiative will culminate in America's Imagination Summit, to be held at Lincoln Center in the summer or fall of 2011.

Community as ...

By Steven Dahlberg
International Centre for Creativity and Imagination

In April 2010, I taught two sessions on "Creative Solutions in the Nonprofit Sector" for a semester-long course in Rhode Island College's Nonprofit Studies Certificate Program. We were fortunate to have two guests visit us in the first session -- Ian David Moss, research director for Fractured Atlas and editor of the Createquity blog, and Stephanie Fortunato, special projects manager for the City of Providence Department of Art, Culture and Tourism. They spoke about creative community, creative class and public policy. For the second session, we met at the great creative community organization, AS200, where the founder and artistic director Umberto Crenca, shared the story of how such an organization came to be and the role it has played in helping transform the culture of creativity in Providence. (He also co-authored an essay, called "Compost and the Arts.")

The students in the course each wrote an essay that started with "Community as ..." and looked at a metaphor for community. How we imagine and frame community matters for how we engage people in community, how we communicate our community work, how we organize, how we manage, and how we do anything related to our involvement with and work in communities. They were invited to think like a seven year old and to try to have original ideas about these various concepts of “community.” They were also asked to think about what, so what, now what … that is:

• WHAT: What does this idea of community include?
• SO WHAT: Why does this idea of community matter?
• NOW WHAT: What implications does this idea of community have? What changes could happen if we adopted this idea of community?

The students' responses to "Community as ..." can be viewed through the "Rhode Island College" tag here. In addition, all of their essays were entered into Wordle to visually show which words and ideas were most prevalent. That image is below and can be clicked on to view a larger version.

Creative Leadership Capacities ... From the Connecting Creative Communities Summit

Steven Dahlberg, Director, International Centre for Creativity and Imagination, asks in the "Building Your Capacity: Creative Leadership in the Creative Sector" session at the Connecting Creative Communities Summit on March 11, 2010:

Creativity matters in all aspects of society, work and life. And it matters for how we lead. Creativity motivates people to do what they love and are good at. Likewise, as Teresa Amabile, director of research at Harvard Business School, and one of the leading creativity researchers, says: “When people are doing work that they love and they’re allowed to deeply engage in it – and when the work itself is valued and recognized – then creativity will flourish. Even in tough times.” Yet, sometimes our organizational cultures and practices get in the way of allowing creativity to be cultivated and expressed. Creativity also engages employees in meaningful work. Engaged employees lead to engaged audiences, customers and clients in our organizations. The Gallup Organization says: “Engaged employees [– that is, those who work with passion and feel a profound connection to their organization –] are far more likely to suggest or develop creative ways to improve management processes. They’re also far more likely to find creative ways to solve customer problems or to involve their customers in creative service innovations. Leaders who want to drive growth through innovation should first create an environment that welcomes new ideas – and should make engaging employees a key component of that strategy.” Gallup has also found that 71% of the workforce is not-engaged or actively disengaged in their work, meaning 71% of the workforce is either under performing or actively undermining their work. Therefore, we must ask ourselves:

1. What do we do to help employees intentionally develop and apply their creativity?
2. What does “creativity” mean to me as a leadership practice?
3. How do we develop creativity in our employees … or, how do we help our employees imagine “what if, what else, why not”? What processes do we use to harness and apply more creative thinking, imagination and ideas in our organization? How do we engage our employees? How do we help them connect to their purpose? How do we motivate our employees to do what they love and are good at?
4. What gets in the way and blocks creativity WITHIN our organization and its employees? What deliberate actions do we take to create a culture for creativity WITHIN our organization?

Connecting Creative Communities - Register Now for March Summit in Providence

Sign up now for the Connecting Creative Communities coming up in Providence, Rhode Island, March 9-11, 2010. The Summit is hosted by the New England Foundation on the Arts and the City of Providence's Department of Art, Culture + Tourism. I am pleased that the Summit is co-presented by the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination, and that I am co-chairing a session on "Building Your Capacity: Creative Leadership in the Creative Sector."

-- Steven Dahlberg, Director, International Centre for Creativity and Imagination

CONNECTING CREATIVE COMMUNITIES
Summit participants represent a broad slice of New Englanders, including government officials, arts administrators, artists, business and civic leaders, creative entrepreneurs, funders, researchers, and others.

HIGHLIGHTS
(View the full program schedule)

• Cities, Bicycles and the Future of Getting Around
  Join Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline for the City of Providence's second annual Senator Claiborne Pell Lecture on Arts and Humanities about how bicycling can transform urban experience.


• Beyond Our Borders: Planning, Policy, and Prosperity in New England
  "Shovel-ready" projects made possible by having a creative economic development plans in place.


• Artist-Driven Solutions for Community Change
  Artist-led initiatives stimulating creative responses to complex social and economic issues.


• Facing Facts: Getting Results with Data
  The sometimes surprising political and financial consequences of data collection.


• Building Your Capacity: Creative Leadership in the Creative Sector
  Day-to-day needs, cross-sector relationships, workforce development, regionalism, and the creativity at the heart of it all.
  
• What's next? Drafting a Regional Agenda
  Key themes and actionable items for a New England-wide regional agenda for the creative sector.

REGISTER NOW!

Connecting Creative Communities is co-presented by:
City of Providence Department of Art, Culture + Tourism, David N. Cicilline, Mayor and the New England Foundation for the Arts in partnership with: Americans for the Arts Animating Democracy, Arts Alliance of Northern New Hampshire, Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism, COOL/Cultural Affairs & Special Events, City of Lowell, International Centre for Creativity and Imagination, The MacDowell Colony, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Massachusetts Office of Business Development, Worcester Cultural Coalition.
Co-sponsored by:
Brown University's John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage and the Providence Phoenix.

EVENT INFO:

• CCC summit flier


• Registration Fee: $60


• Registration Deadline: March 5


• REGISTER NOW!
  

CONTACT INFO:
Adrienne Petrillo
Program Manager, Presenting & Touring
apetrillo@nefa.org
617.951.0010 x527

"Cities, Bicycles and the Future of Getting Around" is Focus of Pell Lecture in Providence

[24 February 2010 - The City of Providence] Mayor David N. Cicilline will host the second annual Senator Claiborne Pell Lecture on Arts and Humanities on Tuesday, March 9 at 7pm at Trinity Repertory Company. Mayor Cicilline established the annual symposium in honor of the late Senator for his extraordinary work championing education, the arts and humanities.

>> MAYOR CICILLINE ANNOUNCES 2ND ANNUAL SENATOR CLAIBORNE PELL LECTURE: Lecture honoring the late Senator to focus on "Cities, Bicycles and the Future of Getting Around" <<

The symposium, Cities, Bicycles and the Future of Getting Around, will explore how bicycling can transform the urban experience by raising the following questions for discussion: How do creative thinkers strengthen civic life? How can a city foster a more bicycle-friendly environment? How might Providence change if more people made a bicycle their primary mode of transportation? Pell Lecture 2010 Panel:

• David Byrne has been writing and performing music and directing video and film for more than 30 years. He was lead singer and guitar player for the innovative rock band Talking Heads, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. What might not be as well known is Byrne’s longtime passion for biking and advocacy for bicycles in cities. Byrne has traveled New York City’s streets on a bike since the early 1980s, and often brings a folding bike on tour. His latest book explores this topic; Bicycle Diaries is an account of his urban bicycle odyssey through the streets of Istanbul, Buenos Aires, London, Berlin, Paris, Belgrade, Sydney, Manila, New York and San Francisco. Bicycle Diaries features beautiful photography, personal anecdotes from Byrne's wide travels and a strong argument for the way a bicycle can change our view of the world and the city in which we live.
• Samuel Zipp is an urban historian who studies the cultural and intellectual history of 20th century cities. He teaches American Studies and Urban Studies at Brown University. He earned his Ph.D. in American Studies from Yale University. His book, Manhattan Projects: The Rise and Fall of Urban Renewal in Cold War New York, will be published by Oxford University Press this spring. Zipp’s interest in cities really took hold through a job as a bike messenger. He says traveling along the San Francisco streets by bike gave him a real appreciation for urban geography and the need to learn a city's social, political, and economic structure from the inside out. Zipp’s presentation will explore the place of bicycles in the history of city development and urban renewal.
• Thomas Deller is a civic leader with first-hand experience creating infrastructure needed for bicycles in Providence. During his tenure as Director of Planning and Development for the City of Providence Deller has overseen the implementation of the Providence Bicycle Network and Providence Tomorrow, the city’s comprehensive plan, which contains many progressive policies regarding biking. As part of changes related to the I-195 highway move, Deller is working with local, state and federal partners to make way for bicycles in the Jewelry District. Deller’s experience in Planning and Urban Development dates back to 1979, when he began his career as a Planner in the East Providence Planning Department. He holds a Masters Degree in Community Planning and a Bachelor’s Degree in Urban Studies from the University of Rhode Island.
  

The Senator Claiborne Pell Lecture on Arts and Humanities is a free but ticketed event. Tickets will be available beginning Thursday, February 25th at the Trinity Repertory Company box office, 201 Washington Street, and must be picked up in person (no phone reservations). Four ticket limit per person. Due to limited availability we suggest advance pick-up. For box office hours and directions, call 401-351-4242. For more information on the lecture, contact (401) 421-2489 x456 or visit www.creativeprov.org.

About the Pell Lecture
Initiated by Mayor Cicilline in 2009, the annual lecture honors the late Claiborne Pell (1918-2009), who represented Rhode Island in the United States Senate from 1961-1997. Senator Pell is best remembered for being a champion of education, the arts and the humanities. He was the main sponsor of the Pell Grant, a financial aid program for U.S. college students, and he played a major role in the establishment of the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment of the Humanities.

Ken Robinson Encourages Creativity, Passion and Talents

[15 January 2009 - Applied Imagination - By Steven Dahlberg, International Centre for Creativity and Imagination] Creativity writer and consultant Ken Robinson launched his new book, "The Element," last night at the Ridgefield Play House in Connecticut at an event sponsored by The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum.

Robinson began by reminding the audience of the power of the imagination. "All cities owe their existence to imagination," he said. "It's this power of imagination will take us into the future -- or not. And it's this kind of imagination that's most at risk. I think we squander it. Not only squander it -- but suppress it ruthlessly."

Robinson went on to talk about his concept of "the element," which includes:

1. Discovering what one's talents are. Doing something for which one has a natural aptitude. Doing something with which one resonates. "Many people have never discovered their real, natural talents."
2. Doing something one loves to do. "People achieve their best when they do what they love."
   

"Aptitude has to meet passion," he said. "And you'll never 'work' again."

He said finding one's element(s) is not only essential to finding personal fulfillment, purpose and meaning, but it's essential to the balance of our communities. Plus, he said it has a bottom-line economic implication. "We are living in times of absolute revolution," he told the audience of more than 500 people. "Revolution demands that we think differently."

He urged people to pay attention to what assumptions they make and what they take for granted. "Things we take for granted turn out not to be true," he said.

Robinson suggested this country has a "crisis of human resources" in which people area unaware of what they are good at, what talents they have, and how to do what they love to do. "Human resources are often buried deep," he said. "You have to go looking for them."

He said the conditions need to be right for these resources to reveal themselves -- and then one has to be ready to do something with them when they appear. He used the example of the flowering of the normally barren Death Valley in 2005 as an example how deeply buried seeds can lay dormant for scores of years waiting for the conditions to be right to sprout and flower. "Death Valley is dormant, not dead," he said.

Photo taken in the Ashford Mill and Jubilee Pass area by Ranger Alan Vanvalkenburg

As always, Robinson critiqued education's overemphasis on particular kinds of thinking and learning (a la his TED presentation on "Do Schools Kill Creativity?" which has been viewed online by a couple of million people).

"Education was devised to develop a particular type of talents," he said, adding that people think they are not smart because of the hierarchy of what kind of thinking is taught and shown importance.

Robinson shared what the three founders of The Blue Man Group are doing to address the lack of creativity in education. They have founded The Blue School. This will be something to watch -- if not participate in.

His final message came from the tag line of his book:
"Finding your passion changes everything."

===

I was honored to also participate in a pre-lecture Roundtable on "Innovation in Our Schools" with colleagues from education, arts, business and government. The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum hosted the Roundtable as a means of bringing together creativity advocates from different fields to move forward creativity and education topics. The question the Aldrich organizers asked was:

"What does it look like, feel like and sound like when all of the partners in a student's learning community (i.e. peers, teachers, administrators, parents, coaches, community organizations, businesses, etc.) model creativity and innovation in a way that serves the student?"

A brief summary of responses included suggestions to focus on:

• What "success" looks like and how it is defined -- and to include such components as passion, talents and creativity, as described above by Ken Robinson.
• Mentoring.
• The power of process.
• Communicating creative and critical thinking processes.
• The "making" of things.
  

Creativity, Education and the Brain

[22 September 2008 - By Steven Dahlberg - Reporting from the Global Creative Leadership Summit] In his introduction to the panel on "Education, Creativity and the Mind," neuroscientist and moderator Antonio Damasio raised several questions about the intersection of these three topics:

• How might education promote cultural understanding? Not just skills and knowledge; but becoming citizens who understand the working of societies, or respect the well-being of the other.
• How might culture be used to promote the well-being of others?
• How might the arts and humanities fields be used in schools to promote cultural understanding?
  

Damasio is a professor of neuroscience at the University of Southern California and director of the Brain and Creativity Institute. He said classrooms and textbooks are no longer the necessary basis for what's going on in learning and education. When they are used, they need to be put to the right service to be effective.

He said one way that neuroscience can be used in support of education is to better understand how neurobiology illuminates the social process -- what brains are doing when they are engaged in social interaction..

Highlights and comments from the rest of this session:

• "Play is a child's work," said Hasbro Chairman Alan Hassenfeld. He is also working to set up one global human rights standard for toy safety.
• Seattle-based artist Susan Robb said she frequently asks students WHO they want to be rather than WHAT they want to be. She also suggested used Visual Thinking Strategies as a tool for helping young people understand art.
• Architect Richard Meier said that new thinking and new ways of rebuilding our cities -- such as post-Katrina New Orleans -- are being ignored.
• Australian neuroscientist Richard Silberstein said there's been an explosive pathologizing of ADHD with three- to nine-percent of the population supposedly afflicted by it. This caused him to wonder if some people being medicated for a pathological condition labeled "ADHD" might actually have something else going on. That is, might there be a spectrum of thinking styles, which ranges from more convergent and orderly thinking (the kind often found in classrooms) to more divergent and dynamic thinking. In a study that is just beginning to produce some results, he is finding connections between ADHD, high IQ and high levels of creativity. Using the Torrance Tests for Creative Thinking and neuroscience measurements, he is looking at connections between creative thinking and the way that regions of the brain communicate with each other. He said that the brain states required for focused work are not the same as those necessary for high creativity. Finally, he talked about the connection between motivation and hope and the importance of a neurobiology of hope. He said hopelessness lowers the neurotransmitters that make learning possible.
• Allan Goodman, president and CEO of Institute of International Education, said brains need safety. He talked about the issues of mobility and safety for scholars, especially in countries with high levels of threats and violence.
• Johns Hopkins neuroscientist Majid Fotuhi said that "learning requires a healthy brain." He pointed out the connection between obesity and dementia, and said that childhood obesity is affecting the brains of children both now and in the long term. Brains of overweight children do not get enough oxygen, which in turn affects the overall health and functioning of the brain.
• Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales talked about the importance of informal learning communities and how technology and informal processes can enhance and encourage creative exploration and the playing with ideas.
• Oxford neuroscientist Colin Blakemore raised the interplay between common sense, education, science and the brain. For instance, he asked why many schools have not changed their language-teaching curriculums to teach languages to children younger than 10, rather than in middle and high school were many students still begin learning languages. Brain research shows the brain's great capacity to learn languages in the first 10 years of its development, yet schools often teach language after the brain as foreclosed on its peak language-learning capacity. He advocated for a new biologically based science of education, which better integrates neurosciences insights about learning into how society does education. Finally, he talked about the importance of learning in real situations versus structured, metaphorical ways; and the importance of teachers conveying their own passion and enthusiasm. "Great teachers convey the great enthusiasm that drives them."
• MIT neuroscientist Nancy Kanwisher asked: How can education enhance our capacity to express empathetic understanding? How might we use the Web to create cheaper versions of cultural and educational exchanges for young people, given the great impact of such face-to-face exchanges?
• Oxford physiologist John Stein emphasized again the importance of active learning as a much better way for teaching children. He said many communities and schools have an obsession with safety that has outweighed the opportunities for play and for being in nature. Talking about visually dyslexic people, he said many of them are incredibly creative, though they have problems reading. He's interested in the ways and the why that dyslexics are creative. He also shared his research about the impact of poor nutrition on learning and the brain. He has found impaired brain cells in dyslexics and his research has shown positive improvements in some people when they increase their intake of vitamins, minerals and Omega-3 fatty acids. He said a deficiency in nutrition can lead to an inability to pick up social cues. In one of his prison studies, he found that by addressing nutrition deficiencies in prisoners, there was a one-third reduction in further offending.
• The Netherlands Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende summarized what he heard from these contributors: the importance of informal learning and its relationship to the formal classroom; responsible citizenship is core to a good society; the role of culture and art and whether one's country or community has a stimulating climate of culture; and the importance of education for positive social interaction.
• Gerard Mortier, director general of the Paris National Opera, said art is not an appendage of society, but at its center.
• Finally, Teachers Without Borders founder Fred Mednick asked how might we scale goodness?

ABOUT THE SUMMIT AND SPONSOR: The Global Creative Leadership Summit, sponsored by the Louise Blouin Foundation, is a three-day forum that brings together great international minds -- including heads of state, CEOs, Nobel Prize-winners and acclaimed artists -- to address pressing global issues, including geo-economics, foreign policy, education, health, poverty and climate change. The Summit also has a goal to work with developed and developing nations alike in order to best address global issues. The Louise Blouin Foundation is an international nonprofit organization that seeks to provide a globalization platform to address challenges in such diverse areas as international trade, foreign policy, education and the environment through the lens of culture and neuroscience.

Creativity and Social Change - U of Connecticut Offers New Creativity Community Building Course

I am excited to announce that I will be co-teaching a new course on "Creativity and Social Change" at the University of Connecticut this fall. This is the first course being offered in the new Creative Community Building Program, which has been developed with an interdisciplinary team of university and community partners. This program will offer an emphasis in Creative Community Building as part of the Center for Continuing Studies' Bachelor of General Studies degree, as well as non-credit workshops and seminars for professional development. -- Steve Dahlberg, International Centre for Creativity and Imagination

CREATIVITY AND SOCIAL CHANGE
a new 3-credit course ... 7 weeks ... fall 2008

==========================
inspiration reinvent art intuition society creativity social sculpture engage change community ideas possibilities
==========================

Do you want to ...

• Unleash and harness your creativity?
• Use your creativity to transform communities?
• Understand how our thinking and imagination shapes, forms and reinvents society?
• Improve your creative community building skills?
• Learn creative thinking strategies to apply individually, in organizations and in society?
• Explore society as a complex system of social relationships and perceptions?

IMAGINE, CONNECT AND ENGAGE: Come and explore, integrate and expand your understanding of “Creativity and Social Change”!

Complete this full-semester, three-credit undergraduate course in just seven weeks! This course (GS 3088; section 90) is offered through the
Center for Continuing Studies at the University of Connecticut. Non-degree students also may register for this course on a space-available basis for personal/professional development.
Where: Bishop Center, University of Connecticut, Storrs
When: September 9 to October 23, 2008
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Who: Taught by Steven Dahlberg and Phoebe Godfrey
Info: Joanne Augustyn, 860-486-0460
www.CreativeCommunityBuilding.org

Social Entrepreneurship to Be Highlighted at the National Urban League Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida

[30 July 2008 - National Urban League] On Thursday, July 31, 2008, the Economic Opportunity Institute (EOI) will host the finals of the Social Venture Plan Competition at the 2008 National Urban League Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida. The competition, sponsored by The Prudential Foundation and FedEx Corporation, identifies and showcases
successful and replicable social ventures operated by Urban League affiliates, and serves as a model for innovative and sustainable public/private collaboration.

Teams from Cincinnati, Hartford, Jacksonville, Lorain County, New York, Philadelphia and Tucson will compete in the finals for over $100,000 in start up cash and consulting services to launch their social entrepreneurial and non-profit initiatives. The winners will be announced at the Whitney M. Young Gala on August 2, 2008.

The competition is sponsored by Prudential Foundation and FedEx and all of the finalists will receive feedback on their social venture plans from accomplished judges, Alfred Edmond (Editor-in-Chief, Black Enterprise.com), Julius Walls Jr. (CEO, Greyston Bakery), and Linda
Roach (Partner, Oakcrest Capital Partners).

In the face of declining support for endowments and the highly competitive nature of grant funding, nonprofits are increasingly integrating entrepreneurial strategies as a way to tackle social problems. They seek to earn capital in order to sustain their missions and, for many, build their capacity to consistently deliver services to the underserved. President and C.E.O. of the National Urban League, Marc H. Morial explains, "I envision an entrepreneurial Urban League movement that enjoys economic sustainability while empowering communities and changing lives. Social entrepreneurship is the new community service grant. FedEx and the Prudential Foundation are supporting the creativity and drive of our affiliates to provide the services that our communities demand."

The EOI Social Venture Plan Competition is simultaneously a practicum in competing for investment funds and also a vehicle to provide funding and in-kind services to those that demonstrate the greatest potential for success. This last round of the competition is open to the public and is a great opportunity for residents of the Orlando area to learn about opportunities in social entrepreneurship, and network with social entrepreneurs/Nonprofit leaders.

Established in 2003, the National Urban League's Economic Opportunity Institute (EOI) empowers communities and changes lives by promoting social entrepreneurship as a strategy to achieve sustainable social change.

National Communiversity Conference Draws 14 Communities From Connecticut to California

[29 July 2008 - Applied Imagination - By Steven Dahlberg - Windham, Connecticut, USA] Four Windham-area residents participated this past weekend in the first "COMV08: Communiversity Conference" in New Gloucester, Maine. Miriam and Mike Kurland, Abigail Ricklin and Steven Dahlberg joined 35 other people from 14 communities -- from California to Maine -- to explore how communiversities can invent a new community context in which people anticipate and transform challenges into opportunities for creative action.

The Windham delegation told the participants about Willimantic's efforts to build creative community. Their examples ranged from the Third Thursday Street Fest, the Boom Box Parade and Willimantic's historic Main Street to the Victorian Home Tour, the new Imagine Willimantic Communiversity group, and the new Creative Community Building Program being launched this fall at the University of Connecticut with community-based partners in Willimantic.

"This was an extraordinary gathering of people who spent three days focusing on positive aspects of what's working best in their communities," said Dahlberg, who heads the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination in Willimantic. "There was no whining or negativity -- just a group of people who want to share their communities' stories, figure out how to engage people in their communities, and help their communities learn and grow together."

The Imagine Willimantic Communiversity grew out of a visit to Willimantic in April from the Communiversity Conference organizer August Jaccaci. While in town, Jaccaci met with First Selectwoman Jean de Smet, people from community organizations, and citizens. He also led a public Creativity Networking event at the WindhamARTS Collaborative, at which he shared with the audience his concept of "Communiversity" and invited Willimantic to join a network of other cities and towns who are working to build a movement of communiversities.

Communiversities, according to Jaccaci, are about discovering new and world-changing ways to meet real needs in real places in real time -- with hope. Communiversities weave together ideas about community learning, creative communities and change.

"Communiversities are the sequel to the modern university," said Jaccaci. "We need to profoundly reinvent all aspects of society or we are history. This includes reinventing human learning so that it's continuous and includes all members of the family of life."

To deal with the accelerating nature of community change and transformation, Jaccaci told participants, "you have to go ahead of history, create it, and pull it toward you," rather than merely reacting to what happens.

Lawyer-turned-poet Anthony Burnini, who opened the second day with poetry, invited the participants to work in their communities to "unbury the talents that have been put in the ground" so that people might discover that they have something to contribute to their communities.

Participants spent the first day and a half sharing their communities' stories, which offer several possibilities for Willimantic:

• Gainesville, Ga. -- Gus Whalen shared how the Featherbone Communiversity emerged out of a reinvention of the Warren Featherbone Company. They transformed the company's old manufacturing space into a community learning center that includes a school of nursing, a children's museum, a business incubator, and a creativity center.
• Deer Isle, Maine -- Dom Parisi shared a vision for helping people take back control of energy costs. He has a 12-step plan for involving whole communities in making better energy choices everyday. He has particularly focused on what his community’s schools are doing about energy use and conservation, and wants to use communiversities to make that project replicable in other communities.
• Hope, Maine -- As towns consider how to brand and position themselves to the outside world, members of Hope have adopted "Hope is Hip" as theirs. As part of their Communiversity, they invited citizens to a meeting to talk about business or community issues. Forty-five people showed up. "This showed that people want to be connected and talk to each other," said Larrain Slaymaker. This group continues to meet each month at a different business where that organization can showcase itself and its products to the community.
• New London, Conn. -- Art Costa talked about how the Re-New London Council is seeking to focus on strengths and assets to build communities from the inside out and to improve their quality of life. They are exploring how to use land-value tax (versus land-use tax) as a tool for building sustainable economies in new ways in cities. Through their Farm-to-City initiative, they are seeking to feed their community with more local food. They also have a buy-local-first campaign for supporting locally owned and operated businesses.
• Portland, Maine -- Christina Bechstein, an artist and professor at the Maine College of Art, shared examples of how she uses the college's service learning program and arts-based projects to engage students and faculty with a community partner in a community project. She described this as "co-learning with the outside community" and talked about ways to make community challenges, such as hunger, visual and visible.
• Berkeley, Calif. -- Rand Christiansen is focusing both his doctoral studies and his Communiversity work on the concept of a "cosmology of love" in which he explores how love can help us address those things that keep us separate and how to create opportunities for people to excel in their potential. "Love is the wisdom of well-being," he said.

In the closing session, Jaccaci suggested that communiversities can help create the planet's next renaissance and wondered aloud: "What are the design specifications for this?" He recalled Margaret Mead’s encouragement to him of working to answer the question: How do you create models that are organic and natural as opposed to arbitrary and manmade?

The answer, Jaccaci said, is in intention -- whether one organizes around resonance and reverence or manipulation and control of others. Nature, he said, offers the best models to help people organize and design communities that function as creatively and efficiently as nature does.

Christiansen said that focusing on nature emphasizes a model of something that lives and breathes life, which is what people desire of their community. He suggested the sequoia tree as a model, with its broad reach and its roots that spread out and intertwine and support the grove.

“Nature is fundamentally symbiotic, full of mutually benefiting relationships,” Jaccaci said. “How might communiversities be this?”

The Imagine Willimantic Communiversity will meet to share more about the COMV08 experience on Tuesday, August 5, at 5:30 p.m. at Wrench in the Works, 861 Main Street, Willimantic. Anyone interested in finding out more or getting involved with this project is welcome to attend. In addition, Imagine Willimantic Communiversity Member Phoebe Godfrey will talk about this project at the Windham Board of Selectman meeting at 7:00 p.m. on August 5.

Creating Communiversities:
Partners in Whole Community Learning
By August Jaccaci

A Communiversity
Is a learning conversation
Within a whole family of life
In a place they hold in common
Dear to them all.
This conversation
Is a sharing of mutual needs
In a place of mutual dwelling
In a process of mutual learning
In a vessel of mutual hope.
This continuous conversation
Is the voice of the soul of life
Expressing the sanctity of all life
For the future of all life
In the home of all life.

Hip Hop Artist and Activist to Speak at Windham High School on May 8; Willimantic Screening of Documentary Film About His Life on May 21

Willimantic, Conn., May 2, 2008 -- The Young Poets at Windham High School are hosting New York hip-hop artist Chris "Kazi" Rolle for two performances and motivational talks on Thursday, May 8, for the high school students. His theme: "If the whole world was listening, what would you have to say?"

This event is part of a month-long celebration of the Windham community's youth, called "Think and Be Heard: Celebrating Our Strengths and Creativity." This project is in collaboration with the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination and is designed to engage students in the community by engaging their creativity. A full schedule of community celebration events in May is available at http://www.whsliteracyzone.com/.

Kazi is also the subject of "The Hip Hop Project" documentary film, which will be shown as part of the Willimantic Cinema Project at the Capitol Theater on Wednesday, May 21, at 7 p.m. The public is invited to this screening, which is presented by The Young Poets, the WindhamARTS
Collaborative, and the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination.

From executive producers Bruce Willis and Queen Latifah, "The Hip Hop Project" is the compelling story of Kazi, a formerly homeless teenager who inspired a group of New York City teens to transform their life stories into powerful works of art, using hip hop as a vehicle for self
development and personal discovery.

In the film, Kazi challenges these young people to write music about real issues affecting their lives as they strive to overcome daunting obstacles to produce a collaborative album. In the film, Russell Simmons, hip hop mogul and long-time supporter of the project, partners with Bruce Willis to donate a recording studio to the Hip Hop Project. After four years of collaboration, the group produces a powerful and thought-provoking CD imbued with moving personal narratives and sharp social commentary. In contrast to all of the negative attention focused on hip hop and rap music, this is a story of hope, healing and the realization of dreams.

Inspired by Kazi's work, the filmmakers are donating 100 percent of the net profits from this film to Art Start and other nonprofit organizations working with young people.

The New York Times has said of "The Hip Hop Project": "[This] vibrant and soulful documentary, 'The Hip Hop Project,' sets its universal message to an inner-city beat. Named for the New York City youth program founded in 1999 by Chris Rolle, known as Kazi, a Bahamian orphan forced to grow up on the streets of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, the movie follows his efforts to encourage at-risk teenagers to express themselves in verse rather than violence."

To view the movie trailer and for additional information about the film, visit http://www.hiphopproject.com/.

For more information, contact Steve Dahlberg, International Centre for Creativity and Imagination, at news@appliedimagination.org.

# # #

ABOUT THE YOUNG POETS:
Three years ago a group of Windham High School and Windham Academy students came together to share their voices and experiences through poetry. They have become a well-known group in the Willimantic area. The Young Poets began performing for the Curbstone Press-sponsored Poetry in the Park at the Julia de Burgos Park in Willimantic. Soon their open-mic poetry readings were a monthly event at Wrench in the Works. They opened the Freedom Writers Diary at the Movie Plex theater in Mansfield, and were guests on the Wayne Norman morning show at WILI. In March of 2006, they raised enough money to see Freedom Writers Founder Erin Gruwell and Maria Reyes at the Bushnell Theater in Hartford. Erin invited them to the VIP room where the Poets performed for Erin and guests. The Poets continue to perform in our community. The Young Poets take you on an up-close and personal journey through the darkness and the light of real life. These amazing, talented students will reel you in and you will never be able to look at the world -- and our community -- in quite the same way. They are always a work in progress, and you will see them change and grow over the course of the year. You can view individual poets' pages online, as well as check out their published book of poetry, "The Streets Hold No Secrets," online at http://www.whsliteracyzone.com/.

ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR CREATIVITY AND IMAGINATION:
Steven Dahlberg heads the Willimantic-based International Centre for Creativity and Imagination, which is dedicated to applying creativity to improve the well-being of individuals, organizations and communities. The centre collaborates with artists, scientists, business people, educators and others to help people develop their creativity. Dahlberg authored the foreword to the book, "Education is Everybody's Business: A Wake-Up Call to Advocates of Educational Change."
http://www.appliedimagination.org/

ABOUT CHRIS "KAZI" ROLLE:
Chris "Kazi" Rolle was abandoned as a baby, has endured abusive foster homes and institutions, and survived alone on the streets with no home or family to support him. Falling victim to the intense pressures of his surroundings, Kazi dropped out high school and began hustling and
selling drugs in the streets to survive. After a few short visits to numerous New York City penal institutions, Chris became determined to focus his energy in other areas.

In 1991, Chris discovered the Tomorrow's Future Theatre Company and began directing, writing and acting for and in urban theatrical productions that fused hip hop and drama to tell tales of everyday life in the inner city. His play, "A Brooklyn Story," earned him the 1994 New York Governor's Citation and Martin Luther King Jr. Award. In 1995, Chris received the CBS Fulfilling the Dream Award for both his play and for his work in schools and homeless shelters advocating education and drug abuse prevention.

Chris graduated from the New York City Public Repertory Company (an alternative arts high school) in 1996 having won the Playwrights Competition. Chris had been a student of the Media Works Project since 1994, and in 1997 he taught the project's curriculum to teenagers coming out of Rikers Island prison. In 1998 Chris led Art Start's anti-racism public service announcement project, which was featured in the Bravo documentary, "Fire, Risk and Rhythm."

In 1999, Chris created Art Start's Hip-Hop Project, an award winning after-school program that connects New York City teens to music industry professionals to write, produce and market their own compilation album on youth issues. The program has attracted the likes of music industry mogul Russell Simmons and mega movie star Bruce Willis, who donated heavily to the success of the program. In 2000, Chris was featured in "People Who Are Using Their Lives" on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Chris' inspiring life story and ground-breaking program is also the focus of a feature-length documentary film, "The Hip Hop Project."

Chris founded Momentum, a hip-hop music label that prides it self in development, education and empowerment of its artists. Chris is co-founder of A.P.EX., a non-profit organization that hosts monthly college preparation workshops that assist inner-city high school students prepare for all aspects of college life, including financial aid and scholarships, admissions and personal development, and culminates in a week-long tour of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Chris also travels nationally to serve as an expert panelist on foster care, male holistic development, relationship issues, entrepreneurship and hip hop community activism and education. Chris is currently a New York City resident.

European Commission proposes 2009 to become European Year of Creativity and Innovation

[2 April 2008 - European Commission] Europe needs to boost its capacity for creativity and innovation for both social and economic reasons. That is why the Commission has today adopted a proposal to declare 2009 the European Year of Creativity and Innovation. The decision will be taken later this year by the Council and the European Parliament. More

Changing Skyline: Presidential candidates ignoring urban issues

[3 April 2008 - Philadelphia Inquirer] There are three times as many urbanites in America as country folk, yet you wouldn't know it listening to the three main presidential candidates, or perusing their Web sites. Instead, you might come away thinking the United States is a collection of Norman Rockwell small towns surrounded by picture-book farms. ... If there were ever a moment to roll out a bold vision for making cities healthier and more competitive, this is it. In the next few years, we're likely to hear a lot more about weaning ourselves off imported energy, dealing with greenhouse gases, and retaining economic parity with fast-rising Asian nations. Coming to grips with that triple threat means buffing up our energy-efficient creativity incubators, otherwise known as cities. So, though the candidates' proposals for ridding America of incandescent bulbs and gas-guzzling vehicles are nice little ideas, the fast lane to energy independence requires significant federal infusions for mass transit, basic infrastructure, and making cities more livable for families. Consider the money an investment in national security. More

Louisiana Gets Creative Economies

[25 March 2008 - From New York - Applied Imagination - By Steven Dahlberg] Louisiana Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu came to New York this week to share Louisiana's efforts to put culture and creativity at the heart of economic and community development. He was joined at Jazz at Lincoln Center by his colleagues from the Louisiana Office of Cultural Development and the Cultural Economy Foundation, along with New Orleans native and Emmy Award-winning actress Patricia Clarkson and New Orleans native and pianist Jonathan Batiste.

Landrieu described the Louisiana Cultural Economy Initiative and announced one of its key components -- the World Cultural Economic Forum (WCEF) to be held in New Orleans from October 29 to 31, 2008. This event will bring together policy-makers, artists, practitioners, cultural workers, educators, economic development leaders, business people and others from around the world. The International Centre for Creativity and Imagination is pleased to be assisting the Louisiana Office of Cultural Development with this event.

One of the challenges of linking culture and economy, Landrieu said, is how people can do what they love and make a living at it -- in the community in which they live. That is, how do you keep the creative talent in your community -- and the economic impact they produce -- rather than exporting it to other communities.

Landrieu raised some important questions that Louisiana is exploring on an on-going basis and that will be explored at the WCEF:

• How do we grow culture from the ground up to capture the inherent authenticity and richness of a community?
• How do we engage the creative endeavors of both the 'front-of-house" artists and the "back-of-house" staff?
• How do we add value to intellectual capital?
• How do we capture the creative things that are native to a community and share them with the world?
• What is the relationship between poverty and culture?
• How can culture re-create neighborhoods and make them safe? ("This is the ultimate goal of sharing New Orleans' and Louisiana's cultural economic success," he said.)
• Is democracy more important than culture? Can you have both? Is the best way to spread democracy by spreading culture?

Landrieu is asking pretty big and important questions. Let's hope these questions rise to a national discussion in the coming election cycle.

It's important to teach creativity and arts if you are going to grow a community's economy through culture, Landrieu said. This is one reason that Louisiana has mandated arts education for all students from kindergarten through 12th grade. "Art and culture have a residual effect on all," he said.

Louisiana wants to be the focal point for a global discussion about culture, which is why New Orleans is hosting the WCEF. The intersecting issues of culture, race and poverty are not unique to New Orleans, but issues facing communities all over the world. The WCEF seeks to provide a space where people can talk and design and then go back to their own communities and tap into the authenticity and richness of culture there.

In introducing actress Patricia Clarkson, Landrieu commented on the network of his Louisiana creative peers -- which include Clarkson, Wynton Marsalis (artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center) and Harry Connick, Jr. -- "when you work with creative people who believe that anything is possible, you find out that it is."

"We are the products of Louisiana," Clarkson responded. "My state made me the actress I am today -- what I was surrounded by. Sometimes I return home to get a charge, a jolt."

Watch for more information about the World Cultural Economic Forum coming soon.

[Pictured above are musician Jonathan Batiste, actress Patricia Clarkson and Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu]

Dahlberg Brings People Together Through Creativity

[26 January 2008 - The Chronicle - Willimantic, Connecticut] A Willimantic man was recognized for submitting one of the Top 100 breakthrough ideas for the Make It Your Own Awards -- awards that encourage community development. Steven Dahlberg, along with others in a group that have met since last summer, submitted their application to the Make It Your Own Awards, a new grants program that aims to increase and strengthen citizen involvement and looks for a more inclusive and innovative approach to grant making. Dahlberg -- a self-employed consultant for the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination -- is looking to open up the creative minds of those in town, as his project is titled "Weaving a New Willimantic." More

Creativity Networking Series Launches in Connecticut

WindhamARTS Collaborative Launches Monthly Creativity Networking Series ... Provides forum for exploring the many facets of creativity and for discovering other people interested in creativity

The WindhamARTS Collaborative, in partnership with the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination, will host a Creativity Networking series from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month from March to June. The series will be held at WindhamARTS, 866 Main Street, Willimantic, Conn.

Steven Dahlberg of the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination will lead the first session, "Creativity, What is It?" on Wednesday, March 5. Participants will explore what creativity is, who has it, and how one can tap into more of it.

This series is open to all. A $5 donation and RSVP (860-450-1794) is requested. Following the session, receive 10 percent off dinner across the street at Willimantic Brewing Co / Main Street Cafe (967 Main Street, Willimantic)!

"The creative force is present in all humans to some degree. Pressures to conform within education and society often silence creative expression for many students and citizens. The potential for its development remains, however," says author and educator Berenice Bleedorn. "The right of an individual to create new ideas and to expect a respectful, supportive climate for their expression is a human right too often ignored. The human right to think and be heard at higher, more complex and mutualistic levels is a necessary added freedom."

Creativity matters in all aspects of society. If you want to reconnect with your inherent creativity and explore new ways of expressing it, don't miss this series. It will cover topics about creativity in all forms (including, but not limited to, arts), creative thinking, creative communities, creativity and education, creativity in organizations, creative persons, the creative process, creative aging and more.

ABOUT THE SERIES:
The series includes opportunities to learn with others, to think in new ways, and to generate new ideas. The format of the monthly Creativity Networking sessions will be informal and will usually include about 30 minutes of a presentation or experiential workshop (from a different facilitator each month), 30 minutes of dialogue about the topic, and 30 minutes of networking with other participants. Come and be inspired to apply your imagination and invent new possibilities for yourself and your community.

In addition, watch for Creativity Networking coming to the New Britain Museum of American Art on July 31 and August 28! The Creativity Networking series is part of a larger initiative to widely promote a more "Creative Connecticut." More details about this statewide project coming soon!

Creativity Networking is sponsored by the WindhamARTS Collaborative ... in partnership with the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination

ABOUT WINDHAM ARTS:
The WindhamARTS Collaborative is comprised of member arts organizations and individuals who came together in 2001 to foster and promote the arts and cultural life of the Windham region. Its goal is to maintain a multicultural, multidisciplinary, and multifaceted arts center where artists and artisans can interact with the public by sharing their creative endeavors. http://www.windhamarts.org/

ABOUT THE FACILITATOR:
Steven Dahlberg heads the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination, which is dedicated to applying creativity to improve the well-being of individuals, organizations and communities. He manages creative community projects for various institutions, serves as an adviser to the Guggenheim Museum’s “The Art of Problem Solving” research project, and serves as a juror to select public art for a new science education building. He collaborates with artists, scientists, business people, educators and others to help people develop their creativity. He has worked with UNESCO, Americans for the Arts, Heinz, the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, General Mills, and Yahoo! Research Berkeley, among other organizations. He’s led workshops and keynotes on creative engagement and participation at the international Creativity & Cognition Conference, the University of Connecticut's Confratute (summer institute on enrichment learning and teaching) and the State of Connecticut's Higher Order Thinking (HOT) Schools Summer Institute. Steven has more than 16 years of experience promoting and teaching creative thinking in the United States, South Africa, Europe and Asia. He was head an international creativity foundation, director of an annual creativity conference, program director of the Institute for Creative Studies in Minneapolis, and helped two long-time toy inventors launch a creativity consulting business. He has designed and taught three graduate-level creativity courses at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, as well as guest lectured at several universities. Dahlberg authored the foreword to the book, "Education is Everybody’s Business: A Wake-Up Call to Advocates of Educational Change," and edits the "Applied Imagination" blog. http://www.appliedimagination.org/

========================

SUMMARY ...

• DATES: Come to any or all of the first-Wednesday-of-the-month sessions: March 5, April 2, May 7 & June 4, 2008
• TIME: 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. -- Followed by dinner at Main Street Cafe, 967 Main Street
• PLACE: WindhamARTS Collaborative, 866 Main Street, Willimantic, CT 06226 (860-450-1794 - www.windhamarts.org)
• REGISTRATION AND INFORMATION: $5 donation; RSVP requested by phoning 860-450-1794 or emailing news@appliedimagination.org
• FACILITATOR: Steven Dahlberg, International Centre for Creativity and Imagination, www.appliedimagination.org

========================

Art with heart ... Community banner project to brighten downtown Rock Hill

From my creative community work during the last week-and-a-half in Rock Hill, South Carolina ...

[7 February 2008 - The Herald - Rock Hill, South Carolina] A splash of color will liven up the winter blahs in downtown Rock Hill, part of a community arts program sponsored by the Arts Council of York County and the Rock Hill school district. ... The public arts project was brought to Rock Hill by the school district and arts center as a way to get children and community members involved in public art, said Kristin Sessions, resource development coordinator for the center. ... The community art project, titled Creativity: The Heart of the Community, is led by artists in residence Steven Dahlberg and JoAnn Moran, both from Connecticut. The project is a way for people to express themselves and participate in creating their own community through art, Dahlberg said. "It is a way to engage people in creating their community and bring people together that wouldn't normally work together, like youth and adults." Dahlberg said. ... Dahlberg said the project is collaborative, so everyone can add something. More

Seen and Heard: Reclaiming the public realm with children and young people

[14 November 2007 - DEMOS - UK] Until now, action to improve the lives of children and young people has tended to focus on the institutional spheres of home and school. Yet quality of life also depends on the access to and quality of shared resources such as streets, parks, town centres and playgrounds. And here, in the everyday spaces of our towns and cities, we increasingly exclude and marginalise the young. In the pursuit of sustainable communities and urban renaissance, children and young people are too often left out of the script. Children and young people have limited independence – both financially and spatially –and depend on shared spaces more than others. With trends in Britain pointing towards less outdoor play, increased parental anxiety and less tolerance for children and young people, the impact of an unwelcoming public realm on their health and well-being is becoming increasingly clear. Seen and Heard: Reclaiming the public realm with children and young people draws on six case studies to explore the everyday experiences of children in public. It argues that we need a paradigm shift in the way we think about the built environment- one which addresses the deepening segregation between generations. The needs of the young are not opposed to those of other users of public spaces, but closely aligned. With a range of recommendations designed to empower frontline professionals and young people, this pamphlet offers practical steps to create communities that are welcoming for all. More Watch Short Video

Steven Dahlberg Among Case Foundation's Top 100 Finalists

[19 October 2007] The International Centre for Creativity and Imagination is pleased to announce that Steven Dahlberg's proposal -- on behalf of his Willimantic, Connecticut, community -- has been selected from nearly 5,000 grant applications as a Top 100 Finalist in the Case Foundation's "Make It Your Own" Awards program.The proposed project is for:
"Weaving a New Willimantic" ... A former thread-mill town weaves a new creative fabric -- where people's ideas matter, where we engage our creativity together and where we co-create our community's common good. We will use inclusive dialogue processes to coordinate current citizen-centered projects and to include more voices.

[18 October 2007 - Case Foundation] The Make It Your Own Awards is about people connecting with others in their community, forming solutions, and taking action. After receiving nearly 5,000 grant applications, our diverse team of reviewers has narrowed the pool down to 100 semifinalists. So, who made the cut? Check them out here. And coming soon, some exciting new tools that will allow you to offer input and spread the word about these great projects. More