If there’s one thing we learned during the pandemic, it was that creativity provided a respite from our harsh and sometimes crushing everyday experiences.
An article in Metropolis recently cited that nearly half of those polled found themselves experiencing more creative ideas during the pandemic than before it. We saw it everywhere — people learned that by being open to new and original thought, we could solve the problems at hand (or at least a proportion of them).
So how do you learn to be more creative?
For many years, while teaching art and design, I would experiment with different exercises and activities designed to spur creative thought. They were taken from my everyday experiences (“How do I get people to slow down while driving through my neighborhood?” “How do I get my kids to eat more vegetables?” “How do I get my team to work more closely together?”).
By exercising the creative brain with these warm-up exercises, students’ brains were activated and ready for the problem-solving demands of the classroom.
I am lucky to now oversee the Delaware College of Art and Design where students come to us to develop their creative abilities. What’s fascinating is that while they come to us to build their skills, and work towards creative careers, they find that there’s an osmosis factor in being in an environment that accepts, fosters and embraces creative thought.
We tell our students that they will “find their people here,” meaning they will find the acceptance, understanding and mentorship of artists and designers like themselves.
The Impossible Dream:Open Call: Delaware Theatre Co.’s ‘Man of La Mancha’ offers the madness, magic of theater
The college’s “birth” came about because of creative and visionary thinking. In the late 1990s, the Wilmington Renaissance Corporation was looking for ways to revitalize downtown Wilmington. They put out a request for proposals to different art schools. Pratt Institute in New York and the Corcoran in Washington came together in a partnership and so began the Delaware College of Art and Design.
Twenty-five years later, we are re-envisioning once again and adding course offerings designed to prepare and train the creative thinkers of the future.
If I do nothing else in my life, I want to stamp out the use of the adjective starving used in combination with the word artist. Our alumni are working in exciting industries and obtaining good paying jobs.
This year we’ve added to our degree programs a Game Art major and added Video to our Photography concentration. We are constantly retooling and refreshing our curriculum to be responsive to industry needs.
There are ways to make a living, and the interesting thing about being an artist and a designer is you have transferable skills.
According to the Harvard Business Review, creativity and innovation are skills commonly sought after in top industries, including health care and manufacturing.
In a recent IBM study surveying 1,500 executives, creativity was determined to rank as the No. 1 factor — above management, integrity and vision — contributing to a business’s success.
Though creativity may be classified as a soft skill similar in nature to public speaking, critical thinking and professional writing, LinkedIn Learning reports it to be one of the most valued skills in today’s workforce.
Musical journey:CoroAllegro offers a musical journey around the world with aim to bring us together
I see a bright future for artists and designers in tech jobs. Already our animators, illustrators, graphic designers and photographers/videographers use sophisticated software to create, manipulate, edit and advance images they have made.
Companies are looking for help with making presentations, videos and collateral materials more compelling. Partnering with institutions like ours will help us continue to tailor our curriculum and coursework to match the skills needed for these jobs — jobs that are already in Delaware.
Jean Dahlgren is the president of Delaware College of Art and Design.
