Comments on Creativity
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 creative people.
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Five Habits of Highly Imaginative Families
(National Catalog 2005)
For five years we have interviewed young artists and writers, along with their teachers, in order to capture the thoughts, efforts and experiences that lie behind their works. But there was always a third presence in the interviews: family. “My mother said…; my dad read…; my aunt gave me…; my step-father used to take me…” ran through the stories, like a chorus or a heart-beat. The message was clear: young artists are not born, they are raised. Daily, families buffer, offer, ask, give and teach.
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"A Proper Piece of Risk...."
(National Catalog 2002)
The due date
Imagination never has been very good with clocks or calendars. Ideas don't arrive by appointment, and frustration doesn't appear by ten and leave by noon. But the world is neither so immediate nor so patient. It issues drop-dead deadlines, like the date for the submission for The Scholastic Art and Writing awards. Weeks, even months ahead, in classrooms across the country, teachers hold up The Awards entry forms, and speak to their classes...
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The Art of All of Us
(National Catalog 2001)
The Sum of Us
> Why are we being videotaped?
> It's for an educational project.
> What?
> It's okay. They're interested in how we work here.
> Us?
> Yes. Not you, not me. All of us.
In this world prizes—whether the Nobel award for literature or first place in the Venice Biennale—are usually awarded to individuals—not to the extended network of family, teachers, friends, and judges who made breakfast, gave paints or special pens as birthday gifts, talked up the work, or served as bridges across doubt. If there were justice in the world, more works would be accompanied by a long "crawl" of names like the ones that follow the end of a film. Instead of casting director, sound designer, and costumer, the list might read: "Inspiration by… Technique by… Relentless support by…"
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Born, Becoming, Being: The Development of Young Artists and Writers
(National Catalog 2000)
The artists' and writers' statements were in neat stacks: A-G, H-P, Q-Z. Until, suddenly, someone across the hall throws open a window on this steamy spring day. Gone is the earlier order, and in its place there is a wild mosaic of computer fonts, calligraphy, cursive, block printing and near-scratches...
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Sir Ken Robinson
Senior Advisor, Education Policy,
The J. Paul Getty Trust
Creativity: A Critical Part of Our Future
(National Catalog 2000)
The future of America lies in the creative abilities of its young people. For over 80 years The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards have shown how deep and wide ranging those abilities really are. The Awards also illustrate some significant themes for the creative future of America, and they have particular implications for education.
Read More (PDF)
Return to Comments on Creativity
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 creative people.
Read More
Five Habits of Highly Imaginative Families
(National Catalog 2005)
For five years we have interviewed young artists and writers, along with their teachers, in order to capture the thoughts, efforts and experiences that lie behind their works. But there was always a third presence in the interviews: family. “My mother said…; my dad read…; my aunt gave me…; my step-father used to take me…” ran through the stories, like a chorus or a heart-beat. The message was clear: young artists are not born, they are raised. Daily, families buffer, offer, ask, give and teach.
Read More (PDF)
"A Proper Piece of Risk...."
(National Catalog 2002)
The due date
Imagination never has been very good with clocks or calendars. Ideas don't arrive by appointment, and frustration doesn't appear by ten and leave by noon. But the world is neither so immediate nor so patient. It issues drop-dead deadlines, like the date for the submission for The Scholastic Art and Writing awards. Weeks, even months ahead, in classrooms across the country, teachers hold up The Awards entry forms, and speak to their classes...
Read More
The Art of All of Us
(National Catalog 2001)
The Sum of Us
> Why are we being videotaped?
> It's for an educational project.
> What?
> It's okay. They're interested in how we work here.
> Us?
> Yes. Not you, not me. All of us.
In this world prizes—whether the Nobel award for literature or first place in the Venice Biennale—are usually awarded to individuals—not to the extended network of family, teachers, friends, and judges who made breakfast, gave paints or special pens as birthday gifts, talked up the work, or served as bridges across doubt. If there were justice in the world, more works would be accompanied by a long "crawl" of names like the ones that follow the end of a film. Instead of casting director, sound designer, and costumer, the list might read: "Inspiration by… Technique by… Relentless support by…"
Read More
Born, Becoming, Being: The Development of Young Artists and Writers
(National Catalog 2000)
The artists' and writers' statements were in neat stacks: A-G, H-P, Q-Z. Until, suddenly, someone across the hall throws open a window on this steamy spring day. Gone is the earlier order, and in its place there is a wild mosaic of computer fonts, calligraphy, cursive, block printing and near-scratches...
Read More
Sir Ken Robinson
Senior Advisor, Education Policy,
The J. Paul Getty Trust
Creativity: A Critical Part of Our Future
(National Catalog 2000)
The future of America lies in the creative abilities of its young people. For over 80 years The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards have shown how deep and wide ranging those abilities really are. The Awards also illustrate some significant themes for the creative future of America, and they have particular implications for education.
Read More (PDF)
Return to Comments on Creativity
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