@@DG-mv6zw self expression (the arts) is a way to make sense of the world, works as catharsis for whatever you are dealing with, makes a comment on society (for example, art during the pandemic). when you write about your feelings you are generally going to gain some kind of clarity, make connections, work through whatever it is you are going through. same with applying paint to a canvas or writing a song.
Yes, I really related to that as when I talk about something from the heart, I feel the emotion overwhelms me and I want to get the message out without crying!
I graduated from art school many years ago and the experience resembles what your talk is about. Since then, I have progressively narrowed my focus on what has been coined as classical realism. Despite my appetite for technical virtuosity with traditional drawing and painting methods, I still utilize my early art lessons. I research, I ask questions, I employ critical thinking, my creative thinking exercises are not limited by discipline or medium and, I manifest ideas. The manifesting of ideas is not the end but rather the means to an end. I think it should be stressed that "Curiosity & Conceptualization" is GROUND WORK. Every project that goes through this ground work should be in support of a singular larger goal if you are to become a "Master Builder".
This spoke so deeply to me. My whole life art was my outlet, more then anything else ever. the safest presents to buy me AT ANY AGE was always art supplies. but because i couldnt replicate the works of the masters my family refused to support me. My art teachers did, I had a piece of my classwork entered into a exhibit in 6th grade which i have kept even to this day but my parents stopped letting me take art classes from then on. it wasnt until my senior year of high school that i ever took another real art class, and in that one i also had a piece entered into an exhibit. i never got to see either, my parents wouldnt let me go. it wasnt until the last 4 years i really took to my art again because i didnt believe i could. now im applying to have photographs of mine entered into a local exhibit and getting everything ready to teach art classes for my community. to this day my family still dont think im an artist, but at least now (with the help of this video) i own who i am.
I am proud that you keep going in spite of your challenges. I met a gifted artist from the Philippines who also had no support from family. She is my favorite artist to see year after year and I appreciate her art even more because it is born from advesity and her tenacity and willingness to never give up creating even if no one supports it. We are living in a day where artists can really make a great living if they treat it like a serious business. Best to your future efforts; wishing you all the support you need in accomplishing your dreams.
A great lecture. I spent all of my Art teaching career arguing that Art is the most important subject on school curriculum and that creativity is the highest form of intelligence.
AMEN! I've told my students this is the difference between an artist who becomes an art teacher vs. someone who picks up art teaching along the way. I LIVE art and I teach art from the artists point of view putting creativity and allowed work time paramount.
then I'm lucky to learn artist's point of view as first batch of honor degree painting and drawing. I'm really tired to see a lot of conceptual than paint and meticulous skill. nothing wrong with conceptual skill, it's pretty down to point practice what you preach as 'art philosophy' to define what replace lines.
I taught Visual Arts for 10 years at a middle school and "became" an Art teacher after living as an Artist for 33 years. I always made things and then became a teacher later. What are getting at? Where is the difference between this and that...the things you mention? Does a teacher not pick up things along the way?
This is the best Ted Talk I have ever heard. A constant reminder that I should express my artistry & teach/guide others to become authentic, creative artists.
Great talk... Nurturing creativity and innovative thinking is so important! I love how Cindy articulated it. It builds individuality and as she says, new ideas... I teach art in London, and luckily I do it privately and have the freedom to do so without limiting the creative process of the little artists, but encouraging them to bring out their own ideas. Thank you for this talk, Cindy, it’s inspiring. 👏🏽♥️
A great video, that confirms many researches concerning creativity. It is weird and perplexing, that some still believe creativity means being able to draw well=realistically, since a lot of research was made concerning the word "creativity" which means "thinking differently, finding new solutions to problems". There is no connection to drawing abilities. 13:24 - "integration" of one subject into another. Using one subject to describe another, so it would be understandable and more rich to children.
4:30 I hear those same statements all the time. I have students who come into class on day one and tell me "I can't draw, I'm not creative". It's those messages they have heard throughout their life that have fostered that belief.
The art curriculum at most schools bothers me. You have a bunch of kids working on extremely similar projects with little freedom. The best Art class I ever had was at my middle school watercolour class which was an optional class. The teacher gave us a very general theme like "abstract" and we could do anything with that theme. It gave us a chance to develop ourselves as artists and develop our own styles as well.
In my high school I did 3 years of art, and then the 4th year I was supposed to come up with my own theme and ideas and do 8 to 10 pieces based on that. I got a lot of freedom to explore different media and styles. It was awesome.
I think a balance between the two is a good thing. At a younger age it's important to setup some loose boundaries to work within to aid in teaching techniques, the elements/principals, art history, etc. I have my students work on similar projects but give them almost unlimited freedom. We may all be painting toucans, but I never say no to my students ideas. I may try to encourage them to follow ideas that I believe will work better for them in the long run or let them know when I think an idea may not work out, but at the end of the day I will never tell them "No. You can't do that." Once they finish an assignment though, they have 100% free create time and can make whatever they want with just about any supply I have.
Students need to learn the elements of art & the principles of design. Art is a learning experience & in the end, no , not anything goes. Think about it like this: for things to have quality, there must be some level of difficulty in order to grow and improve ones artwork. If not, there’s no respect for the work. Too many people think you can just put anything together & call it art. Serious artists should & would be offended by this notion. You can’t get on the piano & just bang at the keys any old way. The same is true for art. What would give artwork any credibility, if it’s not learned & practiced.
@Alex S. all of the great artists throughout history have learned the basics before they made their masterpieces. Picasso, van gogh, monet, Michelangelo, for example all studied the basics for years. You learn them as a spring board to do whatever you want. Learning the basics wont kill creativity, not learning them most certainly will.
The panic that precedes creativity is was a perfect description of what I feel at certain moments while beginning any project. There is no set “vision” of what I want to achieve, I find myself only desiring that it be some perfect rendition of some nebulous idea. The creativity comes about when I can let go of the concept of perfect rendition, and focus on what is in my brain, moment to moment. It is free association of thoughts, playing with shapes and colors, putting the unexpected or unusual into the mix somehow. This is how I try to keep experimenting, to not fall into a routine, to learn something new from each piece. Thank you for your words of encouragement.
This method of teaching art aligns with Teaching for Artistic Behavior or TAB. I see this growing more each year and’s I finally jumped on the bandwagon after seeing a TAB Elementary art room in person and I realized it could be done. I hope more art teachers see this video.
Thank you! Thank you! I totally agree! as an artist/teacher this is such a detrimental reality! Art is not just a canvas and some paint. "Creativity is the Potential for Ideas from Within" as Foley stated. We could learn so much more if we allowed ourselves to pick up a brush and paint "anything!" I teach summer art lessons in my back yard, and I always tell me students that there is no right or wrong in art - that it all comes from within and the courage to try.
I'm a first year art teacher and I always come back to this ted talk. The enthusiasm I see in one of my kids' eyes when I tell them to keep pursuing something, that the experimentation they are doing is good is honestly the best part of the job. Seeing them get so excited about their own ideas and innovations is something I can't get enough of
I've always told my students, that in order to be successful in my class, they must be successful in all of their other classes. And that all of the information learned in their Core classes is needed to really be good in creating art. I completely agree with this Talk. Great Job!
I love this video so much! I'm a teaching artist in Portland, OR, who specializes in teaching kids to play, perform, and compose their own music on the guitar. I found so much inspiration and wisdom in this Ted Talk. Thank you for sharing, and I can't wait to begin implementing these powerful ideas in my after-school guitar program, the Rock Dojo.
What is the difference between “ambiguity” and “confusion?” I was confused by your question - and I’m glad I caught on. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one! And using words to communicate effectively - clearly - “less intellectually” - is what kids need. It is image based. I am a children’s author and once, after I had told one of my stories, a seven year old student came up to me and said, “I wrote a book!” I was totally impressed and asked what his story was about and he told me I asked him further (I also illustrate my books), “So did you draw pictures to go along with your book?” He said, “No. The words make the pictures.” It would do us an immense amount of good if we could learn from what he said. Ambiguity often comes when our words don’t make pictures, but cause confusion.
¡ Perfect, I'll use this with my university students (sound, music and engineering ), You are absolutely right, ART education is essential in sensitive people ¡¡Thank you Cindy Foley!!
Brilliant points raised... being comfortable with ambiguity!!!! As an artist of 20 years standing, I still have to push myself to be more original and move beyond the comfort zone, every day. Thanks for this great explanation of the idea generating process and its importance across all disciplines!
I use a lot of art integration when teaching core subjects. I find that adding art to your classroom is like adding saffron to a dish…it makes it BETTER! 🎨👍🏻
Picasso visited one of caves with ancient stone aged art on the walls - when he exited the cave he famously exclaimed "we have learned nothing". This TED talk hits the potential answers to the issues of creativity facing global western acculturused countries employing standardised models of measured progression.
I actually clapped at the end with the audience - from my sofa! Thank you Cindy Foley for such an inspiring talk. I am a musician trying to be brave and explore different media and come up with great ideas :-) Musicians are not taught about ambiguity, or, for that matter, much about ideas...I've noticed my artist friends are far, far more comfortable with these things. I now feel far happier about all the strange research and thinking I am doing! (PS I have played at the Old Operating Theatre in London that you pictured!)
I know I am very late to this comment, but I'll still put this down here, even though it's probably worth nothing. As another musician, it's very odd to me that Annie said that musicians aren't taught much about ideas... If you ever enter into just about any lesson anywhere or formal program, one of the first things you should be introduced to, along with basic things like scales, intervals and the musical alphabet, is phrasing and how to develop your *musical ideas* fully using various compositional techniques and eventually after you understand previous techniques, how to break those "rules." For example, if you were learning how to play an instrument or how to compose, and you wanted to know how to express the idea or emotion of sadness, you will be introduced to minor keys and different modes and then different ways to structure a composition, to best get the idea of sadness across.
The teaching of Art should encourage questions and open minded creativity. Our future generations need it, and Art curriculums are really suffering nowadays as a result of our need for answers. Even scientists need and benefit from creativity.
Thank you for your spin on how artists think and proceed through their creative process. I can't help but approach any project the same way your husband does...with seemingly insane research and obsession. Now I know that this is not a defect of my character but my artistic mind.
Holy smokes this is exactly what I want to create! Not for people who think they are “artists” , not just young people “who are developing”, but for the general public. Push them to think different. Push them to research and put together things in a new way. It’s so exciting to think what we can do with nothing off the table.
What’s most upsetting is when people create things that are not them, things that feel dead because they don’t have the soul of anyone in them. And it’s all around us everyday. We are surrounded by these places and things.
In my perspective different types of thinking: Analytical, Systematic, Strategic, etc requires Creative Thinking. How we apply the knowledge. Curiosity and imagination provides infinite possibilities. Beautiful minds creates beautiful ideas.
Good observation on her part, that some may have forgot this or they did not know why it is so important. There are artist who can do photo realism because of formal training but have forgotten the need for risk and creativity (ideas), so is it really art? I think that has always been an issue in art that people have talked about. Tools (all tools mental and physical) and the creative idea process should never be parted.
but i feel like that creates an unecessary divide in the art world. that's basically saying that artistic pieces need to have a certain level of creativity or originiality to count as "real" art. it probably wouldn't feel very good if someone told you "that drawing looks nice, but it's not creative enough, so it's not really art." i think the beauty of art is that a photo realistic portrait is just as artistic as an abstract painting of shapes and colors. i do agree that we all need to remember to take creative risks and explore new ideas though.
I do Art and I create my own Imaginary world in cartooning of everyday life with a touch of humor of what I see or hear. Sir Ken Robinson, I loved his speech on Creativity.
I had lecturers kill my ideas, they were bad at thinking here in the UK but in Rotterdam was the complete opposite....but as an independent artist I am a voracious researcher...everything interests me and I have to read it, study it, think it, follow where it takes me....and the ideas happen...
noleforlife@gmai could you please take a little more time to express what you mean. Like maybe say when I heard her say XYZ I felt insert emotion. Saying it's powerful tells me nothing except that you like to label things with with personal metaphorical adjectives:
Creativity is really thinking outside the box. Politically and socially America does not want people who think outside the box, especially as illustrated by changes in the country during the past several years. Therein lies the dilemma. Those who think outside the box in America are perceived as a threat. We applaud the financially successful results of their experimentation but are fully prepared to shun them if the results are not profitable. America is a victim of its narrow creativity. I applaud this Tedx in principle but recognize that in practice America is not fertile ground or open for creativity. We just think we are.
I think a practical solution to her stated problem would be to start teaching more design or “strategy” classes in school. Designing for a specific class or client forces you to be creative in a strategic way of thinking in order to obtain a goal. I think that what she is a proponent for is for encouraging expression and exploration. I think these can be tied to creativity but they’d tend to be less productive. I would be really interested in knowing how she thinks an art classroom should be led practically. And as others have said, there’s nothing wrong with teaching skills in art class. Some forms of art, especially in the renaissance were all about creating beautiful works of art that required amazing skill-and not much of a need for the ability to embrace ambiguity. In recent years, art has moved to more of expression, rather than creating beautiful things though, so she’s most likely more so embracing the new trends in art. Regardless, this talk is very good to bring up challenges and to get you thinking and talking about what art classes should look like.
so agree with you...I am a self taught artist and I am saddened by the robotic teaching style that they call art studies..My son is a 11th grader and I am so happy that he has a love for art.He loves to draw in pencil, military characters and some anime style ones.I would love to see him grow his skills more in other techniques.just like all other school subjects taught,It seems like Art is thrown in the mix,haphazardly ...Its importance is not realized.I know for a fact,that proper involvement in art means total freedom of choice to create whatever your heart and mind desires,it builds your character and humbles you especially.Art education is important ,even more so today.
this is a great ted talk, i was looking up why people make art (really probably trying to get why people find it expressive) and i found so many wonderful answers here about artists minds yknow!
I just watched thid video and it inspires me so much. I am an art studies student, I often question this field but I know I love it and this talk helped and inspired me more. Art education is really important in today's society. We all need to think like an artist.
I'm an art educator and in my own practice, I use traditional materials, but in my classroom I have to make lesson plans that are engaging and accessible to as many if not all students in my class, whether they like art or not. That said, yes, i do praise students who make a concerted effort to display their ability to draw more realistically, that can help boost their confidence and push them further as artists, just as it did for me. What i also do is try to find ways to magnify and praise other aspects of the work for students who make not be able to draw as well. this felt like more covertly trying to be divisive and slyly discrediting people who can actually draw as lacking creativity or worst of all, not really being an artist but just someone who knows how to draw well.
This mindset actually undermines what art teachers do. Show me a math teacher giving a Ted talk about “teaching for linear thinking.” Can you imagine math teachers advocating to stop teaching kids to solve math equations but instead just teach how mathematicians think because big corporations need people who are good problem solvers.
It’s because education is based on box ticking. Even at degree level in art. It saves time and provides statistics on outcome. I once had to judge a children’s Harry Potter art competition. The most beautiful pictures were produced by the age 5-8 group. By age 16 it had all been knocked out of them.
I’m lucky enough to be in a University where they teach us how to think like artists and develop our ideas, embracing ambiguity and create meaningful stuff, rather than copying what others have done. But we do have art history and philosophy classes, to help us understand what others created before us and its perception in its contemporary society.
Yeeeeeesssssss! She gets it! her message is music to my ears! i taught art in this way - for kids to KNOW that they are all creators and creative thinkers - and the school couldn't have THAT - according to the "curriculum" of art "education," that's considered subversive! god forbid - process art that is open-ended! Think about what society tries to indoctrinate us to be...creative thinking scares the people who want to stay in control of the rest of us.
The hardest thing to do as an artist is deferentially seeing with a new fresh eyes the same work you have just finished. Abdullah Nasher 3d artist & Freethinker
i agree with her statement. so much of art appreciation in the general public is for the best technicians, but is that art? is that creativity? i suppose any creation is, once you realize it's value for the creator.. as for the value of art to society that's a different thing altogether.
How to kill creativity? By saying you're "wrong". By insisting there is only one "right" interpretation everyone must adhere to. Creativity is about exploring options, perspectives, dimensions and seeing which ones stimulate growth. It's a widening, not a narrowing. A deepening, not a shallowing. Wings of imagination, not two feet planted firmly on the ground. Encourage the kids to explore!
Well said , art is to feel free , motivate ,dream with reality , experience and experiment. I love your child imagination ,if she said art it means she had seen some piece of art like that
Very good. I would hope that we might add is 'testing' those creative developments. Not a test for the art student but a test against the substance of the 'creative.'
That is amazing and I loved every minute of it! This is a very important message that can only be understood by people if they see the pitfalls of a lack of creativity and a lack of a freedom to generate ideas no matter what they are. In any field, in computer science, office work, law. Generating ideas means evolving and if we're not evolving we're standing still.
Contemporary, abstract artist here. Curiosity and ideas are great and are the basis for the best artworks, but the prime pitfalls of modern art schools are the inherent lack of practical faculty skill required to elevate the hopeful student to a professional level, followed by the political issues within college institutions regarding art as an educational platform, under-equipping the art student due to low funding for materials. Hopefully, one day, creativity will be better rewarded socially and economically, but it'll have to be a different approach than what's been provided to most art students in the recent years.
She is so right. There are modalities that do not require formal artistic education. In fact, it may be blocking some very talented artists from creating in their own style because they are so scared to be bullied by those professors who know how one should draw or paint. Kandinsky once said that art must have psychological meaning, the emotional influence on people. Who cares if objects are perfectly painted or drawn if they don't touch our hearts? They are just beautiful reflections, nothing else. Yet simple geometrical figures such as lines, circles, and triangles creatively put together may even make you cry - that is what we do with our art of Neurographica that I am teaching. I see people being deeply emotionally involved in their drawing, going thru a deep transformation, talking to their subconscious and changing their thinking patterns and root believes that limit their lives and their creative process
While I agree that supporting and praising creativity and ideas is a great thing and should be done more, I really have a problem with her anti- realism statements. All facets of art should be learned and understood for a truly full and useful art education or to become a great well- known artist. There is absolutely nothing wrong with praising a student for having good understanding of detail or anatomy of something and will further their skill. Actually it really would make sense to alter the way you teach, praise, and inspire each student depending on what their strengths are so they can truly excel in their chosen style or sector of art. However I do believe, in any case, every art student should be taught art history, and about the old masters, and what made them great. Their stories are some of the deepest and most meaningful inspiration.
i just found this article so this response is super late, but i think the message was that when that realism is all that is valued at the expense of creativity then that is where the problem lies.
How many artists and writers have been shunned by their own generation yet are praised in ours??lol. Do you actually think deeply about such things at all? Getting the praise of a mindless generation doesn't mean that you are not a good artists or that your work has no value.
As an abstract artist this is right. Abstract can’t be taught. Art elements, colour,perspective etc. can be taught but the student needs to be encouraged to express their ideas in their own way. Sometimes it’s just how they feel at the time. Our work can be our idea and not liked by others but it does provoke conversation. Teachers let your students create without a rigid structure. Analyse and understand their work and provide encouraging feedback to every single one no matter how different they are.
Brilliant points, when my Art dept is being dismantled by the pod managers types in chasing targets and KPI's and they look at you blankly when you explain the imporantce of teaching in this way, it can be easy to dispare. . i'll keep going
I have been examining my own art teaching practices and I would like to move to this more creative approach to teaching. Thanks for this great presentation!
Dawn Norris If TAB isn't familiar to you here are a couple of resources to investigate. teachingforartisticbehavior.org/ facebook.com/groups/136900489846140/
I began painting late in life. I was pleased when what I painted looked like the real thing. For example, if I painted a vase, I wanted my painting to look just like the vase I was looking at. If it did, I considered my painting good. Sometimes I painted from photos. I chose photos that...looked like paintings ! That way, I didn't have to make any decisions about color or composition. The photographer did that already. Sometimes, I made copies of other people's paintings. I became very competent in this. But those copies showed only that I could control the paint and that I could match colors. The artistry was not mine. The artistry belonged to the person who created the original that I copied. I continued these approaches for years: Painting exactly what I saw either from life, from photos or from other paintings. Creativity eluded me. Something inside felt paralyzed. Nothing came to me. I couldn't interpret what I saw in any way except realistically. I stared at Cezanne's still lifes with awe. How did he know to put colors together like that?? Matisse. Gauguin. No, I didn’t expect to be able to paint like them but why, when I painted from life, couldn't I see beyond the REAL? Why couldn't I interpret? Didn't I have anything to say? To express? I looked at the paintings of Arthur Dove and Wayne Thiebaud and felt envy at the way they could create ! They had a personal style. There is something that I am holding onto that I need to let go of. What has thwarted me?
One word: Criticism. You are too critical. Lower your standards of what you consider art and rebuild with the skill of letting go of your critiques. You'll progress much faster :)
Great talk. I still bristled at moments where she talked about "learners". Perhaps unintentionally she seemed to be getting back to the straight jacket that schools impose. You can keep using different words, but people are not products, and at times I still saw the industrial product model creeping back into her talk. There is also a central question she did not answer. Everyone can't be Monet. You can take the point of view that he was just another disposable old W guy. Or more realistically that not everyone is artistic, or creative, and that if they were, there would be no capacity to produce and employ their output. TH-cam is a little like that, in that it is now easier than ever to create and produce and distribute videos, but most people won't do it, and a few people end up with the millions of viewers, while most people are lost.
I have been painting for decades and have no idea what "think like an artist means", but I hope it doesn't mean there is a "way" to think". Maybe some schools differ, but as I recall, subject matter would be conditioned in most schools. Trying to light fires under people who might "become artists" is offensive. People with something to say, or show, need no fire- they need time, space, respect and love. Mostly love.
I think a lot of you are missing the point, she trying to explain that art should not be restricted in how you do it let the kids be creative. I do believe that it's important to know the history and all different skills medium there are in knowing how to do art knowledge is important, but as an artist, how you create your art comes from within you it's a self expression there is no one way of doing art and basically what she's explaining is to allow students to express themselves be creative think outside the box don't just critique. There needs to be a balance of inspiring and giving students the knowledge and skills and then allowing them to interpret and create.
"Art education as a way to cope with the unpredictability of life".
Brilliant concept! Thanks so much Cindy.
Meanwhile, a banana taped to a gallery wall in NYC sold for $160,000. Go figure!
In what way does it help us cope, exactly? (And I mean, exactly)
@@DG-mv6zw self expression (the arts) is a way to make sense of the world, works as catharsis for whatever you are dealing with, makes a comment on society (for example, art during the pandemic). when you write about your feelings you are generally going to gain some kind of clarity, make connections, work through whatever it is you are going through. same with applying paint to a canvas or writing a song.
I love how she got emotional at the end. This speech was passionately heart-felt and such an important message,
The picture n. 59 17of peter randal explain pleas
Op art peter randall pages pictur n 59 17
I agree, Jackie!
Yes, I really related to that as when I talk about something from the heart, I feel the emotion overwhelms me and I want to get the message out without crying!
I'm crying. This is the best thing. Don't kill the ideas and don't kill the light in the eyes of our children. xo
I graduated from art school many years ago and the experience resembles what your talk is about. Since then, I have progressively narrowed my focus on what has been coined as classical realism. Despite my appetite for technical virtuosity with traditional drawing and painting methods, I still utilize my early art lessons. I research, I ask questions, I employ critical thinking, my creative thinking exercises are not limited by discipline or medium and, I manifest ideas. The manifesting of ideas is not the end but rather the means to an end. I think it should be stressed that "Curiosity & Conceptualization" is GROUND WORK. Every project that goes through this ground work should be in support of a singular larger goal if you are to become a "Master Builder".
This spoke so deeply to me. My whole life art was my outlet, more then anything else ever. the safest presents to buy me AT ANY AGE was always art supplies. but because i couldnt replicate the works of the masters my family refused to support me. My art teachers did, I had a piece of my classwork entered into a exhibit in 6th grade which i have kept even to this day but my parents stopped letting me take art classes from then on. it wasnt until my senior year of high school that i ever took another real art class, and in that one i also had a piece entered into an exhibit. i never got to see either, my parents wouldnt let me go. it wasnt until the last 4 years i really took to my art again because i didnt believe i could. now im applying to have photographs of mine entered into a local exhibit and getting everything ready to teach art classes for my community. to this day my family still dont think im an artist, but at least now (with the help of this video) i own who i am.
I am proud that you keep going in spite of your challenges. I met a gifted artist from the Philippines who also had no support from family. She is my favorite artist to see year after year and I appreciate her art even more because it is born from advesity and her tenacity and willingness to never give up creating even if no one supports it. We are living in a day where artists can really make a great living if they treat it like a serious business. Best to your future efforts; wishing you all the support you need in accomplishing your dreams.
A great lecture. I spent all of my Art teaching career arguing that Art is the most important subject on school curriculum and that creativity is the highest form of intelligence.
AMEN! I've told my students this is the difference between an artist who becomes an art teacher vs. someone who picks up art teaching along the way. I LIVE art and I teach art from the artists point of view putting creativity and allowed work time paramount.
then I'm lucky to learn artist's point of view as first batch of honor degree painting and drawing. I'm really tired to see a lot of conceptual than paint and meticulous skill. nothing wrong with conceptual skill, it's pretty down to point practice what you preach as 'art philosophy' to define what replace lines.
I taught Visual Arts for 10 years at a middle school and "became" an Art teacher after living as an Artist for 33 years. I always made things and then became a teacher later. What are getting at? Where is the difference between this and that...the things you mention? Does a teacher not pick up things along the way?
This is the best Ted Talk I have ever heard.
A constant reminder that I should express my artistry & teach/guide others to become authentic, creative artists.
Great talk... Nurturing creativity and innovative thinking is so important! I love how Cindy articulated it. It builds individuality and as she says, new ideas... I teach art in London, and luckily I do it privately and have the freedom to do so without limiting the creative process of the little artists, but encouraging them to bring out their own ideas. Thank you for this talk, Cindy, it’s inspiring. 👏🏽♥️
A great video, that confirms many researches concerning creativity. It is weird and perplexing, that some still believe creativity means being able to draw well=realistically, since a lot of research was made concerning the word "creativity" which means "thinking differently, finding new solutions to problems". There is no connection to drawing abilities.
13:24 - "integration" of one subject into another. Using one subject to describe another, so it would be understandable and more rich to children.
We really do research EVERYTHING
Yes.
Michelle Goulet yes, we certainly do!
4:30 I hear those same statements all the time. I have students who come into class on day one and tell me "I can't draw, I'm not creative". It's those messages they have heard throughout their life that have fostered that belief.
Programming...
Thank you!
especially the stick figure one! I hear that any time I tell someone i’m an artist
I started telling my students and adults saying "I can't..."... Not with that attitude.
The art curriculum at most schools bothers me. You have a bunch of kids working on extremely similar projects with little freedom. The best Art class I ever had was at my middle school watercolour class which was an optional class. The teacher gave us a very general theme like "abstract" and we could do anything with that theme. It gave us a chance to develop ourselves as artists and develop our own styles as well.
In my high school I did 3 years of art, and then the 4th year I was supposed to come up with my own theme and ideas and do 8 to 10 pieces based on that. I got a lot of freedom to explore different media and styles. It was awesome.
I think a balance between the two is a good thing. At a younger age it's important to setup some loose boundaries to work within to aid in teaching techniques, the elements/principals, art history, etc.
I have my students work on similar projects but give them almost unlimited freedom. We may all be painting toucans, but I never say no to my students ideas. I may try to encourage them to follow ideas that I believe will work better for them in the long run or let them know when I think an idea may not work out, but at the end of the day I will never tell them "No. You can't do that."
Once they finish an assignment though, they have 100% free create time and can make whatever they want with just about any supply I have.
Students need to learn the elements of art & the principles of design. Art is a learning experience & in the end, no , not anything goes. Think about it like this: for things to have quality, there must be some level of difficulty in order to grow and improve ones artwork. If not, there’s no respect for the work. Too many people think you can just put anything together & call it art. Serious artists should & would be offended by this notion. You can’t get on the piano & just bang at the keys any old way. The same is true for art. What would give artwork any credibility, if it’s not learned & practiced.
Edith Henson why
@Alex S. all of the great artists throughout history have learned the basics before they made their masterpieces. Picasso, van gogh, monet, Michelangelo, for example all studied the basics for years. You learn them as a spring board to do whatever you want. Learning the basics wont kill creativity, not learning them most certainly will.
The panic that precedes creativity is was a perfect description of what I feel at certain moments while beginning any project. There is no set “vision” of what I want to achieve, I find myself only desiring that it be some perfect rendition of some nebulous idea. The creativity comes about when I can let go of the concept of perfect rendition, and focus on what is in my brain, moment to moment. It is free association of thoughts, playing with shapes and colors, putting the unexpected or unusual into the mix somehow. This is how I try to keep experimenting, to not fall into a routine, to learn something new from each piece. Thank you for your words of encouragement.
This method of teaching art aligns with Teaching for Artistic Behavior or TAB. I see this growing more each year and’s I finally jumped on the bandwagon after seeing a TAB Elementary art room in person and I realized it could be done. I hope more art teachers see this video.
Thank you! Thank you! I totally agree! as an artist/teacher this is such a detrimental reality! Art is not just a canvas and some paint. "Creativity is the Potential for Ideas from Within" as Foley stated. We could learn so much more if we allowed ourselves to pick up a brush and paint "anything!" I teach summer art lessons in my back yard, and I always tell me students that there is no right or wrong in art - that it all comes from within and the courage to try.
I can’t believe I’m just now seeing this TEDTALK!!! I know and love Cindy Foley!!! Volunteered at CMA for wonderful multiple years in a row 🎉🎉🎉
I'm a first year art teacher and I always come back to this ted talk. The enthusiasm I see in one of my kids' eyes when I tell them to keep pursuing something, that the experimentation they are doing is good is honestly the best part of the job. Seeing them get so excited about their own ideas and innovations is something I can't get enough of
So fabulous thank you!!! I am an online instructor and my favorite four letter word is PLAY!
I've always told my students, that in order to be successful in my class, they must be successful in all of their other classes. And that all of the information learned in their Core classes is needed to really be good in creating art. I completely agree with this Talk. Great Job!
I love this video so much! I'm a teaching artist in Portland, OR, who specializes in teaching kids to play, perform, and compose their own music on the guitar. I found so much inspiration and wisdom in this Ted Talk. Thank you for sharing, and I can't wait to begin implementing these powerful ideas in my after-school guitar program, the Rock Dojo.
What is the difference between “ambiguity” and “confusion?” I was confused by your question - and I’m glad I caught on. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one! And using words to communicate effectively - clearly - “less intellectually” - is what kids need. It is image based. I am a children’s author and once, after I had told one of my stories, a seven year old student came up to me and said, “I wrote a book!” I was totally impressed and asked what his story was about and he told me I asked him further (I also illustrate my books), “So did you draw pictures to go along with your book?” He said, “No. The words make the pictures.” It would do us an immense amount of good if we could learn from what he said. Ambiguity often comes when our words don’t make pictures, but cause confusion.
¡ Perfect, I'll use this with my university students (sound, music and engineering ), You are absolutely right, ART education is essential in sensitive people
¡¡Thank you Cindy Foley!!
Brilliant points raised... being comfortable with ambiguity!!!! As an artist of 20 years standing, I still have to push myself to be more original and move beyond the comfort zone, every day. Thanks for this great explanation of the idea generating process and its importance across all disciplines!
Thank you for being an advocate for the mind and thought. Brought me to tears!
You answered so many of my personal questions on “how to create art”. And helped me see my own process on how I create programs.
I use a lot of art integration when teaching core subjects. I find that adding art to your classroom is like adding saffron to a dish…it makes it BETTER! 🎨👍🏻
Picasso visited one of caves with ancient stone aged art on the walls - when he exited the cave he famously exclaimed "we have learned nothing".
This TED talk hits the potential answers to the issues of creativity facing global western acculturused countries employing standardised models of measured progression.
I actually clapped at the end with the audience - from my sofa! Thank you Cindy Foley for such an inspiring talk. I am a musician trying to be brave and explore different media and come up with great ideas :-) Musicians are not taught about ambiguity, or, for that matter, much about ideas...I've noticed my artist friends are far, far more comfortable with these things.
I now feel far happier about all the strange research and thinking I am doing!
(PS I have played at the Old Operating Theatre in London that you pictured!)
i hope since you watched this video you feel more comfortable Annie!
I know I am very late to this comment, but I'll still put this down here, even though it's probably worth nothing.
As another musician, it's very odd to me that Annie said that musicians aren't taught much about ideas... If you ever enter into just about any lesson anywhere or formal program, one of the first things you should be introduced to, along with basic things like scales, intervals and the musical alphabet, is phrasing and how to develop your *musical ideas* fully using various compositional techniques and eventually after you understand previous techniques, how to break those "rules."
For example, if you were learning how to play an instrument or how to compose, and you wanted to know how to express the idea or emotion of sadness, you will be introduced to minor keys and different modes and then different ways to structure a composition, to best get the idea of sadness across.
Awesome ! As an art educator, and creativity advocate, your message is EXACTLY what I've been promoting for the last 20 years. Thank you!
The teaching of Art should encourage questions and open minded creativity. Our future generations need it, and Art curriculums are really suffering nowadays as a result of our need for answers. Even scientists need and benefit from creativity.
In her three steps for teaching creativity, she just described science and cutting edge research.
Thank you for your spin on how artists think and proceed through their creative process. I can't help but approach any project the same way your husband does...with seemingly insane research and obsession. Now I know that this is not a defect of my character but my artistic mind.
Holy smokes this is exactly what I want to create! Not for people who think they are “artists” , not just young people “who are developing”, but for the general public. Push them to think different. Push them to research and put together things in a new way. It’s so exciting to think what we can do with nothing off the table.
What’s most upsetting is when people create things that are not them, things that feel dead because they don’t have the soul of anyone in them. And it’s all around us everyday. We are surrounded by these places and things.
Everyone is creative if they are being human.
In my perspective different types of thinking: Analytical, Systematic, Strategic, etc requires Creative Thinking. How we apply the knowledge.
Curiosity and imagination provides infinite possibilities. Beautiful minds creates beautiful ideas.
Now THIS is what I call an art speech. :)
Good observation on her part, that some may have forgot this or they did not know why it is so important. There are artist who can do photo realism because of formal training but have forgotten the need for risk and creativity (ideas), so is it really art? I think that has always been an issue in art that people have talked about. Tools (all tools mental and physical) and the creative idea process should never be parted.
but i feel like that creates an unecessary divide in the art world. that's basically saying that artistic pieces need to have a certain level of creativity or originiality to count as "real" art. it probably wouldn't feel very good if someone told you "that drawing looks nice, but it's not creative enough, so it's not really art." i think the beauty of art is that a photo realistic portrait is just as artistic as an abstract painting of shapes and colors. i do agree that we all need to remember to take creative risks and explore new ideas though.
I feel you , truly .. and thank you for this beautiful and meaningful talk.
I do Art and I create my own Imaginary world in cartooning of everyday life with a touch of humor of what I see or hear.
Sir Ken Robinson, I loved his speech on Creativity.
I had lecturers kill my ideas, they were bad at thinking here in the UK but in Rotterdam was the complete opposite....but as an independent artist I am a voracious researcher...everything interests me and I have to read it, study it, think it, follow where it takes me....and the ideas happen...
This is so powerful! A license to explore! Thank you for fantastic insight.
noleforlife@gmai could you please take a little more time to express what you mean. Like maybe say when I heard her say XYZ I felt insert emotion. Saying it's powerful tells me nothing except that you like to label things with with personal metaphorical adjectives:
Uh. They probably meant that the thesis and general speech is powerful.
@@elsagrace3893
U
U
Creativity is really thinking outside the box. Politically and socially America does not want people who think outside the box, especially as illustrated by changes in the country during the past several years. Therein lies the dilemma. Those who think outside the box in America are perceived as a threat. We applaud the financially successful results of their experimentation but are fully prepared to shun them if the results are not profitable. America is a victim of its narrow creativity. I applaud this Tedx in principle but recognize that in practice America is not fertile ground or open for creativity. We just think we are.
I am with you Cindy! I love that you care so much you almost cried at the end. 🤗
Bravo....Let's re-ignite our children's comfort with ambiguity, idea generation and transdisciplinary research.
hello . self creative people , realize , what can`t be taught .
but schools of thought , depend on , each others support .
hello . self, creative, people , realize , what, can`t, be, taught .
but, schools, of, thought , depend, on , each, others, support . , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,, , , , , 👏😊🎩👏😊🎩👏😊🎩👏😊🎩👏😊🎩👏😊🎩👏😊🎩👏😊🎩👏😊🎩👏😊🎩👏😊🎩👏😊🎩👏😊🎩👏😊🎩👏😊🎩👏😊🎩
I think a practical solution to her stated problem would be to start teaching more design or “strategy” classes in school. Designing for a specific class or client forces you to be creative in a strategic way of thinking in order to obtain a goal.
I think that what she is a proponent for is for encouraging expression and exploration. I think these can be tied to creativity but they’d tend to be less productive. I would be really interested in knowing how she thinks an art classroom should be led practically.
And as others have said, there’s nothing wrong with teaching skills in art class. Some forms of art, especially in the renaissance were all about creating beautiful works of art that required amazing skill-and not much of a need for the ability to embrace ambiguity. In recent years, art has moved to more of expression, rather than creating beautiful things though, so she’s most likely more so embracing the new trends in art.
Regardless, this talk is very good to bring up challenges and to get you thinking and talking about what art classes should look like.
One of the best TED talks I have seen! :) Thanks Foley
Interesting and thought provoking talk.
I'm not sure why creativity needs to be 'measured' though. Encouraged and valued, certainly.
Probably cause about 80% of people can't value something if it's not measured ...that's why schools have grades
Creativity is NOT LINEAR - please no info-grams and rubrics to over-analyze and destroy the fragility and strength of creative thinking!
so agree with you...I am a self taught artist and I am saddened by the robotic teaching style that they call art studies..My son is a 11th grader and I am so happy that he has a love for art.He loves to draw in pencil, military characters and some anime style ones.I would love to see him grow his skills more in other techniques.just like all other school subjects taught,It seems like Art is thrown in the mix,haphazardly ...Its importance is not realized.I know for a fact,that proper involvement in art means total freedom of choice to create whatever your heart and mind desires,it builds your character and humbles you especially.Art education is important ,even more so today.
this is a great ted talk, i was looking up why people make art (really probably trying to get why people find it expressive) and i found so many wonderful answers here about artists minds yknow!
I just watched thid video and it inspires me so much. I am an art studies student, I often question this field but I know I love it and this talk helped and inspired me more. Art education is really important in today's society. We all need to think like an artist.
I'm an art educator and in my own practice, I use traditional materials, but in my classroom I have to make lesson plans that are engaging and accessible to as many if not all students in my class, whether they like art or not. That said, yes, i do praise students who make a concerted effort to display their ability to draw more realistically, that can help boost their confidence and push them further as artists, just as it did for me. What i also do is try to find ways to magnify and praise other aspects of the work for students who make not be able to draw as well. this felt like more covertly trying to be divisive and slyly discrediting people who can actually draw as lacking creativity or worst of all, not really being an artist but just someone who knows how to draw well.
Don't kill the ideas! I love this!!!
This mindset actually undermines what art teachers do. Show me a math teacher giving a Ted talk about “teaching for linear thinking.” Can you imagine math teachers advocating to stop teaching kids to solve math equations but instead just teach how mathematicians think because big corporations need people who are good problem solvers.
A fascinating, thought provoking and inspiring talk. Thank you Cindy! Respect.
Well done! To me she is describing Steiner Education but her talk is a great bridge to where we need to go.
It’s because education is based on box ticking. Even at degree level in art. It saves time and provides statistics on outcome. I once had to judge a children’s Harry Potter art competition. The most beautiful pictures were produced by the age 5-8 group. By age 16 it had all been knocked out of them.
I’m lucky enough to be in a University where they teach us how to think like artists and develop our ideas, embracing ambiguity and create meaningful stuff, rather than copying what others have done. But we do have art history and philosophy classes, to help us understand what others created before us and its perception in its contemporary society.
Quintessential knowledge here. Have shown this Talk to many pre-service art educators!
Music to my ears. Beautifully presented ideas. Got me thinking all kinds of cool stuff. 😁😁😁
Yeeeeeesssssss! She gets it! her message is music to my ears! i taught art in this way - for kids to KNOW that they are all creators and creative thinkers - and the school couldn't have THAT - according to the "curriculum" of art "education," that's considered subversive! god forbid - process art that is open-ended! Think about what society tries to indoctrinate us to be...creative thinking scares the people who want to stay in control of the rest of us.
The hardest thing to do as an artist is deferentially seeing with a new fresh eyes the same work you have just finished.
Abdullah Nasher
3d artist & Freethinker
"Artists (...) realize that ambiguity is part of the process" >>>EXACTLY
Excellent and completely relevant to the way arts education needs to, and hopefully is changing.
Creativity is about generating ideas!
Very important topic! Thank you!
i agree with her statement. so much of art appreciation in the general public is for the best technicians, but is that art? is that creativity? i suppose any creation is, once you realize it's value for the creator.. as for the value of art to society that's a different thing altogether.
this lovely women really inspire us here , thanks a lot
Artists never get any credit and yet everybody is using it; Art.
You don't do what you love to get credit
Amazing!!!! We need so much more of this!!!
How to kill creativity? By saying you're "wrong". By insisting there is only one "right" interpretation everyone must adhere to. Creativity is about exploring options, perspectives, dimensions and seeing which ones stimulate growth. It's a widening, not a narrowing. A deepening, not a shallowing. Wings of imagination, not two feet planted firmly on the ground. Encourage the kids to explore!
Well said , art is to feel free , motivate ,dream with reality , experience and experiment. I love your child imagination ,if she said art it means she had seen some piece of art like that
Very good. I would hope that we might add is 'testing' those creative developments. Not a test for the art student but a test against the substance of the 'creative.'
That is amazing and I loved every minute of it!
This is a very important message that can only be understood by people if they see the pitfalls of a lack of creativity and a lack of a freedom to generate ideas no matter what they are. In any field, in computer science, office work, law. Generating ideas means evolving and if we're not evolving we're standing still.
lovely...great speech..give me understand how bad we need the real arts in life.thank you
I love her lisp, it gives her voice so much character
Froufrou Deluxe this🤧
Bravo! As someone here earlier said: " STEAM - putting the art in STEM.
Thank you Cindy. Well said.
Wow this is exemplary, Centers of Creativity - in service of ideas!👏😊🎩
👏Wow👏this👏is👏exemplary👏Centers👏of👏Creativity👏in👏service👏of👏ideas👏!👏
Contemporary, abstract artist here.
Curiosity and ideas are great and are the basis for the best artworks, but the prime pitfalls of modern art schools are the inherent lack of practical faculty skill required to elevate the hopeful student to a professional level, followed by the political issues within college institutions regarding art as an educational platform, under-equipping the art student due to low funding for materials.
Hopefully, one day, creativity will be better rewarded socially and economically, but it'll have to be a different approach than what's been provided to most art students in the recent years.
This is the way I was taught art- Art History and Artist thought process to help your own artist journey
Thank you!! This is so wonderful. Thank you!!!
She is so right. There are modalities that do not require formal artistic education. In fact, it may be blocking some very talented artists from creating in their own style because they are so scared to be bullied by those professors who know how one should draw or paint. Kandinsky once said that art must have psychological meaning, the emotional influence on people. Who cares if objects are perfectly painted or drawn if they don't touch our hearts? They are just beautiful reflections, nothing else. Yet simple geometrical figures such as lines, circles, and triangles creatively put together may even make you cry - that is what we do with our art of Neurographica that I am teaching. I see people being deeply emotionally involved in their drawing, going thru a deep transformation, talking to their subconscious and changing their thinking patterns and root believes that limit their lives and their creative process
While I agree that supporting and praising creativity and ideas is a great thing and should be done more, I really have a problem with her anti- realism statements. All facets of art should be learned and understood for a truly full and useful art education or to become a great well- known artist. There is absolutely nothing wrong with praising a student for having good understanding of detail or anatomy of something and will further their skill. Actually it really would make sense to alter the way you teach, praise, and inspire each student depending on what their strengths are so they can truly excel in their chosen style or sector of art. However I do believe, in any case, every art student should be taught art history, and about the old masters, and what made them great. Their stories are some of the deepest and most meaningful inspiration.
Acacia Rogers Art I agree very much with Acacia Rogers! I’m a veteran art teacher now retired.
i just found this article so this response is super late, but i think the message was that when that realism is all that is valued at the expense of creativity then that is where the problem lies.
@@Starmanzzzz agreed
You missed her point.
How many artists and writers have been shunned by their own generation yet are praised in ours??lol. Do you actually think deeply about such things at all? Getting the praise of a mindless generation doesn't mean that you are not a good artists or that your work has no value.
Simply Brilliant!
STEAM - putting the art in STEM!
Full steam ahead :]
As an abstract artist this is right. Abstract can’t be taught. Art elements, colour,perspective etc. can be taught but the student needs to be encouraged to express their ideas in their own way. Sometimes it’s just how they feel at the time. Our work can be our idea and not liked by others but it does provoke conversation. Teachers let your students create without a rigid structure. Analyse and understand their work and provide encouraging feedback to every single one no matter how different they are.
Brilliant points, when my Art dept is being dismantled by the pod managers types in chasing targets and KPI's and they look at you blankly when you explain the imporantce of teaching in this way, it can be easy to dispare. . i'll keep going
I have been examining my own art teaching practices and I would like to move to this more creative approach to teaching. Thanks for this great presentation!
Dawn Norris If TAB isn't familiar to you here are a couple of resources to investigate.
teachingforartisticbehavior.org/
facebook.com/groups/136900489846140/
That was so inspiring!! I can wait to bring these ideas into my classoom!!
I began painting late in life.
I was pleased when what I painted looked like the real thing.
For example, if I painted a vase, I wanted my painting to look just like the vase I was looking at.
If it did, I considered my painting good.
Sometimes I painted from photos.
I chose photos that...looked like paintings !
That way, I didn't have to make any decisions about color or composition.
The photographer did that already.
Sometimes, I made copies of other people's paintings.
I became very competent in this.
But those copies showed only that I could control the paint and that I could match colors.
The artistry was not mine.
The artistry belonged to the person who created the original that I copied.
I continued these approaches for years:
Painting exactly what I saw either from life, from photos or from other paintings.
Creativity eluded me.
Something inside felt paralyzed. Nothing came to me.
I couldn't interpret what I saw in any way except realistically.
I stared at Cezanne's still lifes with awe. How did he know to put colors together like that??
Matisse. Gauguin.
No, I didn’t expect to be able to paint like them but why, when I painted from life, couldn't I see beyond the REAL?
Why couldn't I interpret?
Didn't I have anything to say? To express?
I looked at the paintings of Arthur Dove and Wayne Thiebaud and felt envy at the way they could create ! They had a personal style.
There is something that I am holding onto that I need to let go of.
What has thwarted me?
One word: Criticism. You are too critical. Lower your standards of what you consider art and rebuild with the skill of letting go of your critiques. You'll progress much faster :)
Artists understand these cliches and the dedicated ones, ignore them and work around them. That is how they get to be good.
creativity is marcel the shell. i want to see more of that
Great talk. I still bristled at moments where she talked about "learners". Perhaps unintentionally she seemed to be getting back to the straight jacket that schools impose. You can keep using different words, but people are not products, and at times I still saw the industrial product model creeping back into her talk.
There is also a central question she did not answer. Everyone can't be Monet. You can take the point of view that he was just another disposable old W guy. Or more realistically that not everyone is artistic, or creative, and that if they were, there would be no capacity to produce and employ their output. TH-cam is a little like that, in that it is now easier than ever to create and produce and distribute videos, but most people won't do it, and a few people end up with the millions of viewers, while most people are lost.
I have been painting for decades and have no idea what "think like an artist means", but I hope it doesn't mean there is a "way" to think". Maybe some schools differ, but as I recall, subject matter would be conditioned in most schools. Trying to light fires under people who might "become artists" is offensive. People with something to say, or show, need no fire- they need time, space, respect and love. Mostly love.
Everyone, I heartily recommend watching TED talks by Sir Ken Robinson on education and creativity.
Favorite Ted Talk by far
I love this...but I am a choice based art educator....excellent talk!
Thank you for this wonderful and inspiring talk!
I think a lot of you are missing the point, she trying to explain that art should not be restricted in how you do it let the kids be creative. I do believe that it's important to know the history and all different skills medium there are in knowing how to do art knowledge is important, but as an artist, how you create your art comes from within you it's a self expression there is no one way of doing art and basically what she's explaining is to allow students to express themselves be creative think outside the box don't just critique. There needs to be a balance of inspiring and giving students the knowledge and skills and then allowing them to interpret and create.