Comments on Creativity
The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers have collected the following essays that speak to the resources needed to support creative development in emerging artists and writers.
Dr. Dennie Palmer Wolf
Annenberg Institute for School Reform
Brown University
Imagine a World Where…
(National Catalog 2007)
Each year we interview young artists and writers who have received recognition at the national level of The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. This year, we decided to capitalize on what these award recipients have in abundance: imagination. We asked them to think about their own lives and also about friends or relatives who might also be trying to chart out lives as young creative people. We urged them to think boldly and concretely:
The question was not easy — even for young people who live by and for their imaginations. But, like the innovators they are, they took up the challenge: re-imagining education, redesigning work, and rebuilding communities, imagining a world where creative young people could thrive.
Read More
To read more of Dennie Palmer's essays, visit her Comments on Creativity Archive.
Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas
Chairman, Education Commission of the States
The Arts - A Lifetime of Learning
(National Catalog 2005)
In my role as the chairman of a nationwide organization known as the Education Commission of the States, I’m leading a major initiative titled “The Arts-A Lifetime of Learning.” Those who know me realize the arts are a passion, not just a program, for me. In one of the exhibits at the Old State House in downtown Little Rock, you'll find a guitar. It’s not impressive at first glance. This guitar was purchased for $99 in 1966 from the J.C. Penney catalog. That $99 covered the electric guitar, a plastic case and an amplifier. It was the first guitar for a boy who wanted to play so badly that his parents made an extraordinary sacrifice by scraping together what was a large sum for them and purchasing the guitar for the 11-year-old child. Like many children who grew up in the Beatles era, this child not only learned to play the guitar, he would play it until his fingers almost bled. That child was me.
Read More (PDF)
Sir Ken Robinson
Senior Advisor, Education Policy,
The J. Paul Getty Trust
Growing Artistic Talent
(National Catalog 2007)
How do you nurture someone’s artistic talent when even they don’t know what it is? Some people know at an early age that they want to paint, play the guitar, or write poetry. But sometimes artistic talent can take a long time to show its true face. Don Lipski is one of America’s most acclaimed sculptors and public artists. His works are in museums and private collections, in parks and public buildings across the country. In elementary school, high school and even in college he had no idea where his unique talents would take him, or even what they were.
Read More (PDF)
To read more of Sir Ken Robinson's essays, visit the Comments on Creativity Archive.
Esmeralda Santiago
Author
Finding a Voice, Becoming a Writer
(Spark Catalog 2006)
The biggest challenge for any writer is to discover his or her voice, that difficult to define and often elusive aspect of writing that cannot be taught. Voice can only be discovered through trial and error, after hours of practice maneuvering a shifting sense of what works and what doesn’t for particular genres and expressive abilities.
Read More
Dr. Stanley Madeja
Professor of Art and Education Emeritus
Northern Illinois University
The Foundation of a Lifelong Creative Journey:
Middle School Art
(Spark Catalog 2006)
The works of art in this publication represent the best quality works by middle school artists as recognized by affiliates of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers through The Scholastic Art Awards and the Access, Equity and Excellence Initiative. They are peer examples of excellence. They illuminate potential.
During the critical "middle years," many students have their first in-depth encounter with both art-making and the captivating art world. A caring middle school art teacher can guide students through a "foundation" curriculum that exposes them to the great masterworks of art from the ancient to the contemporary and introduces skills that are the building blocks of creative expression.
Read More
The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers have collected the following essays that speak to the resources needed to support creative development in emerging artists and writers.
Dr. Dennie Palmer Wolf
Annenberg Institute for School Reform
Brown University
Imagine a World Where…
(National Catalog 2007)
Each year we interview young artists and writers who have received recognition at the national level of The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. This year, we decided to capitalize on what these award recipients have in abundance: imagination. We asked them to think about their own lives and also about friends or relatives who might also be trying to chart out lives as young creative people. We urged them to think boldly and concretely:
Imagine that you have 15 minutes with a high school principal/a city planner/ a mayor — someone who can make changes. They ask you what they should change/do/ build/fund so that creative young people can thrive? What do you tell them?
The question was not easy — even for young people who live by and for their imaginations. But, like the innovators they are, they took up the challenge: re-imagining education, redesigning work, and rebuilding communities, imagining a world where creative young people could thrive.
Read More
To read more of Dennie Palmer's essays, visit her Comments on Creativity Archive.
Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas
Chairman, Education Commission of the States
The Arts - A Lifetime of Learning
(National Catalog 2005)
In my role as the chairman of a nationwide organization known as the Education Commission of the States, I’m leading a major initiative titled “The Arts-A Lifetime of Learning.” Those who know me realize the arts are a passion, not just a program, for me. In one of the exhibits at the Old State House in downtown Little Rock, you'll find a guitar. It’s not impressive at first glance. This guitar was purchased for $99 in 1966 from the J.C. Penney catalog. That $99 covered the electric guitar, a plastic case and an amplifier. It was the first guitar for a boy who wanted to play so badly that his parents made an extraordinary sacrifice by scraping together what was a large sum for them and purchasing the guitar for the 11-year-old child. Like many children who grew up in the Beatles era, this child not only learned to play the guitar, he would play it until his fingers almost bled. That child was me.
Read More (PDF)
Sir Ken Robinson
Senior Advisor, Education Policy,
The J. Paul Getty Trust
Growing Artistic Talent
(National Catalog 2007)
How do you nurture someone’s artistic talent when even they don’t know what it is? Some people know at an early age that they want to paint, play the guitar, or write poetry. But sometimes artistic talent can take a long time to show its true face. Don Lipski is one of America’s most acclaimed sculptors and public artists. His works are in museums and private collections, in parks and public buildings across the country. In elementary school, high school and even in college he had no idea where his unique talents would take him, or even what they were.
Read More (PDF)
To read more of Sir Ken Robinson's essays, visit the Comments on Creativity Archive.
Esmeralda Santiago
Author
Finding a Voice, Becoming a Writer
(Spark Catalog 2006)
The biggest challenge for any writer is to discover his or her voice, that difficult to define and often elusive aspect of writing that cannot be taught. Voice can only be discovered through trial and error, after hours of practice maneuvering a shifting sense of what works and what doesn’t for particular genres and expressive abilities.
Read More
Dr. Stanley Madeja
Professor of Art and Education Emeritus
Northern Illinois University
The Foundation of a Lifelong Creative Journey:
Middle School Art
(Spark Catalog 2006)
The works of art in this publication represent the best quality works by middle school artists as recognized by affiliates of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers through The Scholastic Art Awards and the Access, Equity and Excellence Initiative. They are peer examples of excellence. They illuminate potential.
During the critical "middle years," many students have their first in-depth encounter with both art-making and the captivating art world. A caring middle school art teacher can guide students through a "foundation" curriculum that exposes them to the great masterworks of art from the ancient to the contemporary and introduces skills that are the building blocks of creative expression.
Read More
For Email Marketing you can trust
The Maurice R.
Robinson Fund
