“Every human being is creative-it’s not a gift; it’s not a luxury; it’s an integral part of our cognitive make-up. Because we call “creativity” by so many different names, we don’t always fully appreciate the full extent of its presence in our lives. The arts belong back in schools because they’re among the effective, efficient, and powerful ways to nurture creativity.”
According to Dr. Anthony Brandt, the integration of arts into school curriculum has become a modern-day civil rights issue. Dr. Brandt, Associate Professor of Composition and Theory at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, will be presenting the knowledge and evidence needed to progress this movement further on Thursday, January 17 in the Solarium Room at the First Presbyterian Church in the Museum District. The event will begin at 7 p.m.
Dr. Brandt was invited to speak on the importance of the arts and creativity for young, developing minds by a new school concept called The Marthannie School Group - a nonprofit organization that wants to put more emphasis on this topic. The event will start off with an hour lecture by Dr. Anthony Brandt entitled ‘Why Do Minds Need Art?’ and will be followed by a question and answer session.
Dr. Brandt emphasizes that by using brain science, he can provide the public with essential information for regrowing creativity and arts in schools, which is usually the first cuts in school budgets. Brandt will explore the basis of creativity using his “bending, breaking and blending” method and further express his theory that children need art because every human being’s basic brain function is creative.
“If we only cleaned half our house, or only painted half our house, we would feel embarrassed,” Brandt said, to symbolize that the lack of creativity fostered in young minds is unsupportive to the essence of every human. “Bending is a distortion or disguise of the original. Breaking fragments the source into pieces and makes something new out of all or some of the pieces. Blending merges two sources. The 3B’s model proposes that all creativity can be united under this single cognitive framework.”
The event is open to the public and admission is free. This will be an inspiring lecture that impacts the future of children’s education and creative entities in the Houston area.
