The Creativity at Work Blog

Culture for All is developing  Art at Work in partnership with private and public companies noted for their involvement in Quebec communities. The objective of the program is to develop cultural dimensions in all areas of the community and make arts more accessible to the public at large.

In 2008, for the second edition, seven companies including three municipalities hosted professional artists at their respective workplaces, where the artists conducted workshops and interacted with employees to produce collective works of art. 

Participating companies:

Centre de la Petite Enfance Premier Pas (La Tuque)  Raphaël Bénédicte (painting) Project: Jouer c’est magique! The Abenaki painter created two murals in the hall of the CPE (daycare centre). The first illustrates the six aspects of the preschool aid program for Aboriginals, and the second, which was created with the participation of the children, their parents and the preschool teachers, gives visual form to what the youngsters retained from their stay in the daycare centre.

Groupe TD Meloche Monnex (Laval) Caroline Morneau alias Morno (painting) Project: On the occasion of the inauguration of its new offices in Laval, the company reserved a cafeteria wall where around a 140 employees participated in the creation of a collective mural under the supervision of the painter. Ville de Longueuil Michelle Baillargeon (visual arts) Project: OVBI / Objets volants bien identifiés Municipal employees are called upon to build Archimedean polyhedra of the cuboctahedron variety and to personalize them through the insertion of found objects or creations of their own making. These elements will be displayed in an aerial or sculptural installation form.

More companies

Artists and companies are welcome all year long to submit proposals

INFO:
514-873-2641 / toll free 1 866 734-4441 
info@culturepourtous.ca

Tags: Art, Canada, culture

The Canadian Arts Coalition strongly urges you to make the I Vote for Culture initiative part of your week.

Add your name to the online petition “I Vote for Culture”, by October 9, 2008.

Visit: www.ivoteforculture.com or www.jevotepourlaculture.com 

Pleas pass this on to your networks. The site will continue to collect votes until October 14.

If you have a non-partisan initiative or event that you would like to confirm is being publicized on the Coalition’s Facebook event listings, please email details to Helen Yung, National Coordinator at info@canadianartscoalition.ca .

Thank you!

Tags: Art, culture

LIVING DEEPLY: THE ART AND SCIENCE OF TRANSFORMATION IN EVERYDAY LIFE
with MARILYN SCHLITZ , PhD and CASSANDRA VIETEN, PhD

Dates & Times: Wed, Oct 29, 7-9:30pm & Thurs, Oct 30, 8:30 am-4:30pm
Locations: Wed-UBC Robson Square Theatre & Thurs-Vancouver Art Gallery, 
Cost: $20+GST (Wed eve only) $150+GST (full program)

Click here to register or call 604-822-0681.

Deep shifts in consciousness can transform our relationship to life, triggering a worldview that is kinder, more compassionate and connected. But what allows such dramatic changes to occur?

Living Deeply: The Art and Science of Transformation in Everyday Life is a newbook that brings together stories of individual transformation and combines them with contemporary scientific findings and teachings from diverse religious and wisdom traditions.

A decade of research at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) has gone into the writing of Living Deeply including in-depth interviews with teachers of the world’s spiritual, religious, and transformative traditions. The researchers also reviewed hundreds of people’s stories about their own positive self-transformation which resulted in improved health, well being and a greater sense of life purpose and meaning.

The UBC Life and Career Center is pleased to present a unique opportunity to meet Marilyn Schlitz and Cassandra Vieten, co-authors of Living Deeply, and to delve further into the practical and inspiring messages it contains.

The evening event is part of the North American launch of the book. Marilyn will explore the mainfindings from years of research and study of human transformation. Cassandra will join the workshop the following day building on the evening presentation using dialogue, active learning and self-

EVENING PRESENTATION, BOOK LAUNCH & SIGNING

Date & Time: Wednesday, Oct 29, 7-9:30pm
Location: UBC Robson Square Theatre
Cost: $20+GST (Books on sale at this event)
Click here to register or call 604-822-0681.

To download a printable directional map of the 2 events, click here .

FULL PROGRAM: EVENING PRESENTATION & WORKSHOP

Dates & Times: Wednesday, Oct 29, 7-9:30pm & Thursday, Oct 30, 8:30 am-4:30pm
Locations: Wed-UBC Robson Square Theatre & Thurs-Vancouver Art Gallery, Heritage Courtroom #302
Cost: $150+GST
Click here to register or call 604-822-0681.

To download a printable directional map of the 2 events, click here .

September-October 2008

A big thank you to Ralph Kerle of The Creative Leadership Forum, and Lisa Canning of Entrepreneur the Arts, for helping to make our first Transformational Leadership Forum a success. One of the highlights of our forum was a passionate discussion led by David Fushtey of the Governance Counsel who provoked us with questions innovators don’t often think about. Continued here

Whole Brain Thinking: New Neural Pathways

Join me in a two day workshop at Royal Roads University, in Victoria BC
Thursday and Friday Oct 30 and 31, 2008

 Explore the strategic dimensions of Whole Brain Thinking and learn practical tools and techniques that integrate right-brain imagination, artistry and intuition with left-brain logic, analysis, and planning.

Topics:

• Creativity and innovation in art, business, science and design: as a body of principles, actions and results
• Case studies from the world’s most successful organizations
• Creative leadership
• Whole-brain thinking model developed by Ned Herrmann
• Profiting in the Creative Economy

 Click here for details and to register:

The Creative Economy is the antidote to Wall Street woes. 

 According to recent reports from the UNCTAD, the Creative Economy is undergoing unprecedented growth compared with traditional services and manufacturing.

The Conference Board of Canada’s Report Card on Canada: Underperforming in Most Subjects

We score a D in Innovation, a paradox, given we have a thriving creative economy:

The Conference Board estimates that the culture sector generated about $46 billion in real value-added GDP in 2007, which constituted 3.8 per cent of Canada’s real GDP. However, when considering the effect of culture industries on other sectors of the economy—accounting for indirect and induced effects—the overall impact was much larger. According to our estimates, the economic footprint of the culture sector was valued at about $84.6 billion in 2007, or 7.4 per cent of total real GDP.

This presents an excellent argument to apply arts-based principles and practices to business and science. Continued

Art and Culture have become election issues in Canada

Take Action. Art and culture are the lifeblood of our economy. Write or Call your candidates; meet them; approach them at public events; organize or attend an official debate between local candidates. Here’s how.

See also  US Financial Crisis Creates Artistic Opportunity for Global Transformation by Lisa Canning

Crisis Equals Opportunity

Jason Zweig of the Wall Street Journal says “U.S. nonfinancial companies have just under $1 trillion in cash on their books. Even though Wall Street is dead, innovation is not: In the months to come, clever new financial go-betweens will spring up and find a way to get that cash flowing again. It’s hard to see how a depression could get under way when so much capital is waiting in the wings.”

Examples include Virgin Money

 Integral City: Evolutionary Intelligences for the Human Hive

 Join us for an engaging and interactive evening
at the University Women’s Club, Vancouver BC 
Nov. 5, 2008

My friend and colleague Marilyn Hamilton has written an important soon-to-be-published new book. Integral City offers us a brilliant and revolutionary new way to examine our cities through the lens of science, ecology and systems theory, to create a new vision of what a city could be — one that supports life on this planet as well as our own evolution as human beings.

Listen to Marilyn’s presentation on the Integral City and explore what happens when courageous dialogue surfaces differences, makes new connections, opens new pathways, brings hope, and creates city learning.  

Happy Creating,
Linda Naiman

——————————————————

Linda Naiman is co-author of Orchestrating Collaboration at Work,

Our focus is on developing business creativity, collaborative leadership and innovation through arts-based training, coaching and research-based consulting. • Skills Training for leaders, managers and staff •            Coaching innovation champions and teams • Culture Change initiatives • Strategic Planning • Meeting Facilitation.

About The Creativity at Work Newsletter

The Creativity at Work Newsletter provides overviews of new research in creativity and innovation, ‘best practices’ of leading organizations, links to new or relevant websites and an array ideas and techniques from innovation experts. Please forward this newsletters to friends and colleagues.

Mailing address: 2181 West 38th Ave, Suite 804, Vancouver BC Canada V6M 1R8
Telephone: +1 (604) 327-1565

© Copyright 2008, Linda Naiman & Assoc. Inc. All rights reserved. 

Tags: arts-based training, Creativity, Creativity and Innovation Workshops, Creativity at Work Newsletter, Innovation, leadership skills, whole-brain thinking

One of the highlights of Transformational Leadership for the Age of Innovation Forum was a passionate discussion led by David Fushtey of the Governance Counsel who provoked us with questions innovators don’t often think about. 

Ralph Kerle summarised highlights in his Creative Leadership Forum blog: 

Fushtey believes governance is as important as sustainability and totally underestimated when we begin to think about innovation in all forms of organisations. What do governance manuals mean when those who design and write them with the best of intentions are not in a position to implement or manage the governance? What does trust mean in collaboration? What does loyalty mean when we look at the current fallout in world financial markets? What does fiducary duty mean when there are no regulations in a free market? He used this wonderful Argentinian short film to stimulate our thinking and dialogue around these issues.

Tags: governance, Innovation, Leadership, sustainability

Take Action. Art and culture are the lifeblood of our economy. Write or Call your candidates; meet them; approach them at public events; organize or attend an official debate between local candidates.

Here’s how:

http://www.canadianartscoalition.ca/en/takeaction/write.cfm

Tags: Canada, creative economy

The Creative Economy is the antidote to Wall Streets woes. 

According to recent reports from the UNCTAD, the Creative Economy is undergoing unprecedented growth compared with traditional services and manufacturing.

What is the Creative Economy?

UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) defines the Creative Economy as a set of knowledge-based economic activities making intensive use of creativity to add value to intellectual assets. The Creative Economy is comprised of Creative Industries which include film, music, publishing, new media, and design, which generate income from trade and property rights. Creative occupations include engineers, educators and scientists as well as those involved in the creative arts, design and entertainment.

John Howkins, author of The Creative Economy: How People make Money from Ideas (2001), defines creative industries as “The sum total of four sectors: The copyright, the patent, trademark, and design industries – together constitute the creative industries and the creative economy.” 

Economist Richard Florida, suggests that America’s [and Canada's] workforce advantage lies in our ability to solve problems, forge new frontiers, and quickly adjust to changing economic forces. The creative economy recognizes everyone is inherently creative, and that creativity is a driving force of innovation.

Salient features of the creative global market 

• Forecast to grow by 10% annually
• Leading sector in advanced countries
• Stimulating urban regeneration of cities
• New venues for developing countries leap-frog into value-added areas
• Europe:  the creative economy is growing 12%  faster than the overall economy and employs about 4.7 million people (EC study)
• UK: In 2004, 8% gross value added and 1.8 million jobs £11.6 billion in exports or 4% of balance of trade.
• Denmark: In 2003, 5.3 % of GDP and 12% workforce 16% of total exports, turnover of 23.4 billion euros 
• USA: In 2003, 6% of GDP and 4.7 million jobs. Exports from copyright-based industries US$ 89 billion  (IIPA)

 Source: UNCTAD 2007 (E. dos Santos)

UNCTAD has global databank on world trade in creative products including a full  report on the Creative Economy.

 The UK has launched a £4.5 million Creative Economy Programme to advance creative industries. UK Culture secretary Andy Burnham says “It [the creative industry] is crucially important to the economic success of the country. The big thing is the creative industries need to move from the margins into the mainstream.” See also http://www.creativeconomy.org.uk/

From the Conference Board of Canada’s July 2008 report on Creative Economy:

According to our estimates, the economic footprint of the culture sector was valued at about $84.6 billion in 2007, or 7.4 per cent of total real GDP. For comparison, the value-added of Canada’s entire retail industry was just under 6 per cent in 2007, as noted by Hill Strategies

It is estimated that 1 million jobs are created by the cultural sector, representing 7.1 per cent of Canada’s total employment in 2007. That workforce grew by 31 per cent over the past decade, according to Statistics Canada, compared to a 20 per cent growth in the total number of employed workers.

“Not only does the arts and cultural industry make a valuable economic contribution in its own right, it also stimulates creative activity in other sectors of the economy,” Michael Bloom, vice-president of Organizational Effectiveness and Learning at the Conference Board said. “A dynamic culture sector plays a key role as a magnet for talent, enhances economic output, and acts as a catalyst for prosperity.”

In Canada, the culture sector plays a critical role in attracting people, business, and investment, and in distinguishing our country as a dynamic and exciting place to live and work. Clearly, a growing, dynamic culture sector is central to Canada’s success as a creative, knowledge-based economy. The culture sector also serves as a magnet for skilled and creative people, as Canada becomes increasingly dependent on international migration to sustain the size of its national labour force. Today, there is also growing recognition of the important linkages between arts and culture industries and urban and rural development. Innovation is driven by creativity and diversity.  

— Source: Valuing Culture: Measuring and Understanding Canada’s Creative Economy, July 2008

Our future depends on our ability to cultivate imagination, creativity and innovation, to foster social and economic growth, and improve our quality of life. Yet our current government has cut $60 million in funding for arts and culture programs by citing the need for good governance and the need for fiscal responsibility. This isn’t an either-or proposition. We need both. 

Tags: conference board of Canada, creative economy, culture

Integral City Book Launch Nov 5, 2008

University Women’s Club

7:00 pm– 9:30 pm

Hycroft 1489 McRae Ave. 
Vancouver BC (Granville & 16 Ave.)

Limited Seating.  Register by Oct. 30.

Register: Tel: 604 731-4661   or
Email:  uwcv@uwcvancouver.ca

Cost: By Donation at the Door

My friend and colleague Marilyn Hamilton has written an important soon-to-be-published new book. Integral City: Evolutionary Intelligences for the Human Hive, offers us a brilliant and revolutionary new way to examine our cities through the lens of science, ecology and systems theory, to create a new vision of what a city could be — one that supports life on this planet as well as our own evolution as human beings.

Join us for an engaging and interactive evening:

• Listen to Marilyn’s presentation based on her new book, Integral City
• Explore what happens when courageous dialogue surfaces differences, makes new connections, opens new pathways, brings hope, and creates city learning  
• Healthy cities evolve best when many different types of intelligences are integrated from diverse sources in a whole systems approach.  Marilyn’s presentation outlines a big picture framework that offers new proactive options for complex issues such as housing and homelessness. 

Please save the date and plan to attend with a few friends in order to take back to your own city initiatives or community gatherings inspiring ways to open up the dialogue on creating healthy cities. You might like to know that Marilyn’s book, Integral City: Evolutionary Intelligences for the Human Hive, has already won a best book award even though it won’t be out until October! For information on Dr. Marilyn Hamilton’s work see www.integralcity.com

Tags: Events, Evolutionary Intelligences, Integral, integral city, vancouver