Creativity In Play

We'll explore how to open up the collaborative innovation process in organizations to discover new insights, engage new audiences and find new products. Our guest is David Yaun, vice president of marketing and communications for global industries at IBM. David is part of the closing keynote on "Innovation in the 21st Century" at the Advancing Creative Thinking: Imagination to Innovation Conference in Ridgefield, Connecticut, on April 28. 

We'll explore how to bring "artistry" into one's life and work -- discovering the edge of what we know. Find out why surprise, uncertainty, ambiguity, intensity and change are all disruptive forces that we typically avoid or fear -- yet why they are the essential origin of both creativity and great performance. Plus, we'll talk about what "integrative thinking" is and why it matters for being more creative. Join us with Hilary Austen, author of Artistry Unleashed and adjunct professor at the Rotman School of Business at the University of Toronto. Find more about Hilary here. Hilary is part of the closing keynote on "Innovation in the 21st Century" at the Advancing Creative Thinking: Imagination to Innovation Conference in Ridgefield, Connecticut, on April 28, and will be leading a workshop there, as well.

We'll explore ways to educate children and liberate adults so that creativity flows again. Play is for all ages, as is exploration and improvisation. Discover the power, potential and possibility of play for children and adults with leading play expert Joan Almon. Joan co-authored the report "Crisis in theKindergarten: Why Children Need to Play in School," is  founding director of the U.S. Alliance for Childhood, and former co-chair of the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America. Joan is leading a workshop on "The Power of Play" at the Advancing Creative Thinking: Imagination to Innovation Conference in Ridgefield, Connecticut, on April 28.

Against the backdrop of the Bellevue Arts Museum's "Making Mends" exhibition, we'll explore the therapeutic benefit of art and the sense of hope and perseverance that artists find as they come to terms with traumatic experiences through the act of creation. Our guest is the "Making Mends" curator, Nora Atkinson.

We'll explore the workings of creativity -- from how to bring more of it into organizations to who is creative to how the brain works with creativity. Our guest is Jonah Lehrer, author of the new book, Imagine: How Creativity Works, as well as How We Decide and Proust Was a Neuroscientist. He is also contributing editor at Wired, a frequent contributor to The New Yorker and a columnist for The Wall Street Journal. Find more at http://www.jonahlehrer.com/.

We'll explore the intersection of play, creativity and art through the "Push Play" exhibition at the Bellevue Arts Museum near Seattle, Washington, and the work of curator and artist Linda Ganstrom.The exhibition is shaped through Linda's belief that play is at the core of all forms of creativity and that art is work with a playful attitude. The exhibition looks at the subject matter of contemporary play through the medium of ceramics art.

  We'll explore the power, potential and importance of play to generate and restore health and sanity to our world. Our guest, Gwen Gordon, brings stories from her play work with Muppets for Sesame Street, Apple research at MIT Media Lab, Xeroz PARC, San Quentin Prison, and elsewhere.

Berenice "Bee" Bleedorn would have turned 100 on December 22. She died earlier this year, bringing to a close her nearly 50-year career in creativity and education. Today, we'll celebrate not only her life, but why her work matters today and in the future. We'll be joined by one of her daughters, former students and international colleagues to explore the impact of her life and work in promoting creativity across education, business, global issues, sustainability, arts, politics and more.

We'll explore the importance of play for children and adults in learning, healing, working and community-building with Angelique Felix. We'll find out about how the Angelique uses the Reggio Emilia approach in play session to create many possibilities for children to express the way they really are. Learn more about Angelique at www.angeliquefelix.com.

We'll explore what creativity looks like in the personal and performing life of concert pianist Haley Simons. And how that creative life inspired her latest project of developing Creative Alberta -- a Canadian province-wide nonprofit organization that encourages and supports creativity in the multiple arenas of culture, commerce and education.

We'll explore with artist, educator and activist Lily Yeh her work with Barefoot Artists, Inc., to bring the transformative power of art to impoverished communities around the globe through participatory, multifaceted projects that foster community empowerment, improve the physical environment, promote economic development and preserve indigenous art and culture. We'll talk about her new book, Awakening Creativity, about  her work with the Dandelion School for children of migrant workers in Beijing, where she engages students in artmaking to transform a rundown factory into a vibrant school and community center. Find out more about Lily's projects at www.barefootartists.org. Lily is part of the opening keynote on "Disruptive Creativity: How Bright Ideas Can Change Everything" at the Advancing Creative Thinking: Imagination to Innovation Conference in Ridgefield, Connecticut, on April 27. 

We'll explore patterns and perceptions about play in the lives of young children and how adults impact children's play with Payal Mahajan is an international educator based in India. Plus, what role culture plays in making visible the development, problem solving and creativity that flows out of these patterns so that there is a greater tolerance/acceptance/respect for the very natural and necessary trait of living beings - play. Find more about Payal's work at: http://www.artoflearning.inhttp://aaryan.posterous.com/

Sir Ken Robinson joins us for a one-year celebration of "Creativity in Play" and will explore with us his take on the current state of creativity in education, the workplace and society. Sir Ken is author of the New York Times best-seller, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, and Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative.  Tweet your questions now to @creativityplay ...

NOTE: The audio of this interview has an echo. An edited version with all of Anne's comments is available here on Vimeo. We'll explore the creativity of poetry and the poetry of creativity with Irish poet Anne F. O'Reilly. Plus, find out more about the Celtic imagination, Celtic spirituality, and how to explore one's creative purpose through poetry. O'Reilly is a performance poet, celebrating the healing and transforming power of poetry. She is the author of Sacred Play: Soul Journeys in Contemporary Irish Theatre and Singing from the Belly of the Whale. Her CD, "Breathsong," was released earlier this year. Find out more about Anne, her poetry and her work online. Anne is leading sessions at the Advancing Creative Thinking: Imagination to Innovation Conference in Ridgefield, Connecticut, on April 28, 2012.

We’ll explore the progress of the Lincoln Center Institute’s Imagination Conversations that have been held around the country, what will be happening at America’s Imagination Summit on July 21 and 22 in New York City, and what the future holds for imagination and creativity in education and across fields. The summit will feature Sir Ken Robinson, Dr. Deepak Chopra, the head of the National Education Association, the chief creative executive of Walt Disney Imagineering, and many others. Our guest is Lincoln Center Institute Executive Director Scott Noppe-Brandon, creator of the Imagination Conversations and the Imagination, and co-author of Imagination First: Unlocking the Power of Possibility.

We'll explore the role of creativity and play in social change, community organizing and social movements, as well as the importance of play in public space. Our guest is Ben Shepard, assistant professor of human service at New York School of Technology/City University of New York. He is the author of several books, including Play, Creativity, and Social Movements: If I Can't Dance, It’s Not My Revolution, The Beach Beneath the Streets: Exclusion, Control, and Play in Public Space, and Community Projects as Social Activism. Find out more about Ben at www.benjaminheimshepard.com.

We'll explore what the creative process looks like and how it works across poetry and therapy with poet and Jungian analyst Naomi Ruth Lowinsky. Her memoir about her pushy muse is called The Sister from Below: When the Muse Gets Her Way. She's written three collections of poems and has a private practice in Berkeley, California.

We'll explore the notion of the "game frame," what games mean to us, why learning should look more like gaming and why work should look more like play. Plus, connections between creativity, motivation and games. Our guest is Aaron Dignan, author of The Game Frame: Using Games as a Strategy for Success, and founding partner of the digital strategy firm Undercurrent. Find more at www.gameframers.com and on Twitter @aarondignan.

Our guest is Piers Fawkes,  founder and editor-in-chief of PSFK, a daily source of new ideas for creative professionals. We'll explore future trends shaping innovation and technology across sectors. Find out more about Piers and PSFK.

Our guest is Carrie Lobman, Ed.D., associate professor at the Rutgers University Graduate School of Education, and co-author of Unscripted Learning: Using Improvisation Across the K-8 Curriculum. We'll explore the role of play, creativity and meaning-making in learning, as well as the popular series Carrie teaches, called PLAYGROUND, which she describes as a "postmodern laboratory for fun and development." Find out more about Carrie.