As a child, you probably did many creative things in the run of a day – from painting pictures and writing stories, to making costumes and home-made instruments and modelling whole worlds out of Play-Doh. Your creativity, ideas and energy probably seemed boundless as you let your imagination run wild. Wouldn’t it be great if you could capture that feeling again?
One of Business & Arts NL’s newest programs aims to do just that.
Creativity can help you deal with so many of life’s challenges and roadblocks, both at work and at home. And while you might not feel it some days, the good news is that that creative spark exits within everybody. Some of us just need a helping hand to bring it to the surface.
That’s where Creative Edge comes in. The program aims to bring together members of the private sector with local artists, who can help them find and flex those creative muscles. Professional artists have an array of valuable skills developed through years of practicing and fine tuning their craft. Through a special partnership, Creative Edge artist-facilitators worked with trainers at Memorial University’s Gardiner Centre to translate these unique skills into workshops that can help build skills in the private sector.
Creative Edge currently consists of six workshops that cover team building, communication skills, creative problem solving, strategic planning and overcoming burnout. They are led by seasoned professionals in the arts sector, including Christine Hennebury (Empathy and Engagement: Creating Connection Through Storytelling), Julie Lewis (Paint Your Plan), Rozalind MacPhail (Inspiration Soup – Keynote Concert), Sean Panting (Effective Communication Through Creative Writing), Jennifer Young (Creativity and Innovation Through Visual Art) and Lynn Panting (Confidence & Communication Through Movement).
The program has already started to make an impact, helping open people’s eyes to the creative potential that exists within them. One of the individuals who took part in Sean Panting’s workshop in May shares “This workshop has for sure helped me. I’ve never considered myself to be a creative individual and never believed I was gifted with that skill. However, this workshop has shown me that creativity is not something you are born with, it is just a different way of thinking.”
A participant of Christine Hennebury’s workshop from this past December says “I think activities such as this are great for people that don’t tend to think creatively. In my line of work, we tend to think about things in very practical terms, very inside the box. I liked being challenged to think outside the box. Also, the more we learn about how those around us think or view things, it makes us understand how best to interact and communicate with people.”
To learn more about the Creative Edge program, or how to book a session, click here.
