Imagination Conversations in the News

November, 01 2009

Teaching imagination, creativity, and innovation is the new paradigm for education in the 21^st century, and Lincoln Center Institute is at the forefront of this movement. The goal of the 50 Imagination Conversations project, launched this fall, is to hold a Conversation about imagination in every state. The initiative will culminate in a National Summit at Lincoln Center and an action agenda to make cultivating the imagination a key element in our schools.

We are off to a dynamic start, with back-to-back events in Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Washington and New York. Panelists tackled the Conversations' critical ideas. Illuminating, in Oklahoma City for example, the vital though distinctively different forms the imagination takes in the careers of Sonic organization's CEO Cliff Hudson, state senator Clark Jolley, newspaper publisher Mary Mèlon, medical researcher Steve Prescott, composer Jerod Tate, and university president Roger Webb. Bringing together such diverse participants—and, potentially, very different ideas—is the foundation on which the Conversations lie: how often will a politician and a composer find common ground of debate and agreement outside of their own spheres? How often will they share their thoughts freely within earshot of a newspaper maven?

In Cambridge, education professor Nancy Carlsson-Paige, music-and-media professor Tod Machover, theater artist Tina Packer, the state's Education Secretary, Paul Reville, and public advocate Klare Shaw joined in as panelists. With a well-known government figure open to discussion, the Cambridge Conversation quickly took an unexpected turn. As the educators in the audience began questioning Secretary Reville about elements of the new accountability demands, Scott Noppe-Brandon, LCI's Executive Director, asked, "Why not look at the present situation as an opportunity? After all, accountability per se is a desirable thing, in education or elsewhere, but the point is, it is not all we pay attention to any more than it is something we can afford to disregard. Would students perform better if the standards were different, or is it really a matter of the education we provide, which must be re-hauled top to bottom in order to regain relevance to students' lives? The burden of student performance rests with us, the educators, no matter what. How do we become architects of a new education? How do we create a new paradigm? This is what we are here for and what Imagination Conversations are about."

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts event, on October 8, had special significance for LCI. Two "practictioners of imagination" featured in Scott Noppe-Brandon and Eric Liu's new book Imagination First: Unlocking the Power of Possibility were among thepanelists. The group included film producer Adam Brightman, jazz violinist Zach Brock, astronomer Luke Keller, as well as Leslie Koch, President of the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation, with Scott and Eric moderating.

How these individuals learn, recharge, and continue to build their imagination was a theme at the New York Conversation. Luke Keller noted the importance of teaching, "My best teachers have been my students—because they ask questions. It's those questions that show me what I don't know, and the best way to learn it is to teach it." Keller encourages questioning in his classroom, which puts him squarely into the category of spontaneous proponents of LCI's practice, where inquiry is the basis of imaginative teaching.

Zach Brock does a very personal version of listening: he listens (literally) to recordings of other musicians, except that they are not violinists. He might be listening to Miles Davis, a trumpet player—but he'll imagine he's hearing a violin. Then he will play the violin—and imagine he's playing a trumpet. The results are stunning and innovative.

Seattle panelists were Linda Hartzell, Director of Seattle Children's Theater; Erik Lindbergh, pilot and CEO of the Lindbergh Foundation; Harmit Malik, doctor at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center; Yoky Matsuoka, Director of the Neurobotics Laboratory at the University of Washington; and Joby Shimomura, stained-glass artist and activist.

Yoky Matsuoka epitomizes the practice, explored in Imagination First, of "renewing your narrative" or re-seeing your life. An athlete and tennis pro who repeatedly suffered injuries, she "renewed" her life's path by taking her passion into science. One cannot but wonder, is there a connection between the harsh demands a tennis player places on her joints and sinews and the fact that Yoky became a MacArthur Fellow for her work as designer of cutting-edge prosthetics? She speaks of her creations in words that marry artistic vision to scientific work, invoking precision, clarity of intent-and sheer joy about how imagination is inseparable from her work.

Watch for news of Conversations in the winter and spring of 2010. Planning is underway in Utah, Colorado, Maine, and New Jersey. Visit the Imagination Summit website or read the insightful blog, Imagination Now, to continue to learn about Imagination events and topics.

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