By Amber Williams
Originally published in 2016
The Creative Idea
The Creative Thinking Project (CTP) was born over brunch. At an event hosted by the University of Auckland’s National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries (NICAI) in November 2010, an art aficionado and advocate, Robert Gardiner (ONZM; CNZM), had a conversation with Amy Malcolm, the University’s Development Manager (Special Projects).
As a founding trustee of the Chartwell Trust and a life-long supporter of the visual arts, Robert has ever been passionately committed to disseminating information about the personal and social value of creative practice. He and Amy discussed a dream scenario for communicating that passion: an international conversation about the nature and meaning of creativity, and how creative thinking could be fostered in individuals and society. The pair brainstormed ideas and questions about how this initiative could be realised. Further, how would one position creative thinking as central to education and business?; how may creativity be enhanced by research into creative thinking processes and practice; and how can creativity be fostered across multiple disciplines and areas of endeavour?
That conversation continued over the following months, initiating several years of challenging and exciting work. Robert and Amy honed their vision and brought in like-minded people from the University and beyond to contribute to their discussion and plans. This burgeoning team began trying to define “creativity” and “creative thinking” and delineate parameters for a potential project. Eventually, the group decided it did not need to have all the answers before launching its initiative; it resolved to begin a project of exploration that could grow organically and be refined during the process of discovery. The Chartwell Charitable Trust offered financial support to fund the requisite infrastructure.
In 2011, the CTP was formally established. A Board was set up with Robert Gardiner as Patron. The Board aspired to highlight and explore creative thinking in its myriad manifestations and demonstrate the social and economic benefits of creativity. Three specific aims/goals were identified:
- to deepen current understanding of the creative process so everyone can engage in it;
- to promote creativity as central to an individual’s wellbeing and development; and
- to promote creativity as central to a community’s wellbeing and development.
Three streams of activity were set up to begin progressing toward these goals. The first was a Creative Fellows programme which would bring internationally acclaimed experts from various fields to inform New Zealand audiences about creative thinking relative to their field of expertise. The second stream was to foster research with the assistance of the Creative Fellows who would help to identify potential research topics. The third was to introduce creative thinking as a general education course in the University’s curriculum.
The CTP drew together committed philanthropists, academics from a broad range of science and humanities disciplines and other, forwardthinking individuals in the private and government sectors. The group includes:
- Professor Jenny Dixon (University of Auckland) – Board Chair and Deputy Vice Chancelor (Strategic Engagement)
- Robert Gardiner ONZM;CNZM (Chartwell Trust) – Patron
- Amy Malcolm (University of Auckland) – Director of the Creative Thinking Project
- Pip Anderson (University of Auckland) – Creative Thinking Project Administrator
- Christine Fernyhough, CNZM (Fernyhough Visual Arts and Education Trust)
- Sue Gardiner (Chartwell Trust)
- Professor Peter O’Connor (Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Auckland)
- Professor Michael Parekowhai (National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries, University of Auckland)
- Dr Mark Sagar (Auckland Bioengineering Institute, University of Auckland)
- Dr Peter Shand (National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries, University of Auckland)
- Associate Professor Cathy Stinear (Centre for Brain Research, University of Auckland)
- Associate Professor Nuala Gregory (National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries, University of Auckland)
- Chris Williams (King Street Advertising)
- Louise Callan (researcher/writer) and Amber McWilliams (writer).
Wider support networks include: partnerships with Auckland Art Gallery; Auckland War Memorial Museum; Te Papa: Museum of New Zealand; Creative Waikato; Govett-Brewster Art Gallery; Puke Ariki; Saatchi & Saatchi New York; and Arts Access Aotearoa. Without the commitment and support of the above individuals and organisations, the CTP would not have gained the traction and profile it now enjoys.
To advance its aims, the CTP established a Creative Research Fund to support selected initiatives undertaking research into creativity in a variety of contexts. The fund thus serves to bring philanthropists into contact with scientists, philosophers, educators and artists.
The use of social media has allowed the CTP to spread its message nationally and internationally. The CTP website (www.creativethinking project.org.nz) (launched in May 2014) and a Facebook page (launched a year later) have been key communication channels. Facebook followers can find out about events, access a curated collection of international stories about creative practice, and contribute to the discussion by posting comments and content. The CTP website provides formal event details, articles about each Creative Fellow, research findings, and video interviews. These online “creative conversations” offer engaging insights from the Creative Fellows and other practitioners in diverse fields. These include Anthony Hoy-Fong (New York based celebrity chef), Dick Frizzell (New Zealand artist), Roseanne Liang (playwright and University of Auckland Young Distinguished Alumna), Julie Maxton (Director of the Royal Society) and Kevin Roberts (Worldwide CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi).
The CTP has also provided a theme for the University’s alumni events programme in New Zealand and abroad. University academics on the Board and Creative Fellows have fostered inspiration in alumni and 12 Chapter Two friends in locations such as London, New York, Sydney and Melbourne, as well as a raft of New Zealand cities.
Contribution from creative communities has been central to the success of the Project. Through professional networks, Dr Peter Rajsingh (Chair, Board of the Friends of The University of Auckland in the United States) connected with the world-famous singer/songwriter Bob Dylan. In October 2014, at a glittering launch event at Saatchi & Saatchi’s New York offices, organised by the University and New Zealander Jane Sutherland (Arts Advocate for Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide), Dylan was announced as Patron of the Creative Research Fund. He was also honoured as the Project’s inaugural Creative Laureate. In Dr Rajsingh’s words at the launch, “Bob Dylan has been a transformative figure while remaining outside the mainstream. In this regard, he parallels the ethos of New Zealand, a country that has made significant contributions to the world by ‘leading from the edge (2013: pg number).’”
The Creative Fellows
The Creative Fellows programme was initiated to launch an international, cross-disciplinary conversation exploring creativity as a fundamental human capacity. Each Fellow gives public lectures, presented in partnership with major New Zealand art galleries, museums and community groups, which broadens the audience base and brings new people into the Project. The Fellows also record interviews with the CTP, offering their key ideas and findings for wider public dissemination via the CTP website. Broadcast media have interviewed the various Fellows, which has provided further valuable nationwide exposure. Workshops enable members of academic and creative communities to work directly with the Fellows. Creative Fellows are selected because they are leaders in their fields, with an established body of transformative work relevant to the CTP.
Six Creative Fellows have contributed their diverse experiences to the Project to date—three in 2014, three in 2015. The inaugural Creative Fellow was University of Iowa Professor, Nancy Andreasen (MD, PhD), who visited New Zealand in October 2014. As a world-renowned neuroscientist, psychiatrist and creative thinking expert, Professor Andreasen discussed the functions of the creative brain. Her visit helped initiate a CTP research project to study the mental processes of some of New Zealand’s most famous creative thinkers.
Michael Corballis (PhD, HonLLD) was the CTP’s second Creative Fellow. He is Emeritus Professor of Psychology in the University of In the Beginning… The Evolution of the Creative Thinking Project 13 Auckland’s Faculty of Science. Professor Corballis is a specialist in cognitive neuroscience in the areas of visual perception, visual imagery, attention and memory. He spoke to audiences around New Zealand about the creativity of the wandering mind.
The third Creative Fellow was artist, writer and curator Professor Janis Jefferies. Professor Jefferies works for Goldsmiths, University of London. Her portfolios include Professor of Visual Arts, Director of Goldsmiths Digital Studios, and Senior Research Fellow at the Constance Howard Resource and Research Centre in Textiles. She spoke on the topic of “Cooperation, Collaboration and Creativity.”
The fourth Creative Fellow, Professor Bruce Sheridan, hails from Colombia College, Chicago (the largest film school in the USA) where he is Chair of Cinema Art + Science. As an educator and film-maker with 30 years’ experience, Professor Sheridan is a leader in the move to redesign film and media education for the 21st century. He addressed the issue of enabling creativity to thrive within formal education systems.
Curt Tofteland, the CTP’s fifth Creative Fellow, founded “Shakespeare Behind Bars,” an internationally acclaimed personal transformation programme which combines art, theatre, and the works of William Shakespeare to create Restorative Circles of Reconciliation in prisons. Mr Tofteland gave public lectures in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, and also conducted workshops with prisoners in Northland, alongside Professor Peter O’Connor.
Professor Jonothan Neelands (PhD, DSc) visited NZ in December 2015 as the sixth Creative Fellow. He is a Professor of Creative Education at the Warwick Business School (WBS) and Chair of Drama and Theatre Education at the University of Warwick. Professor Neelands discussed the findings of the 2015 Warwick Commission Report on the Future of Cultural Value, examining “why the Arts matter.”
The Creativity Course
In July 2015, the University of Auckland launched its first course in creative thinking. “The Creative Process” is a Stage One General Education course, convened by Professor Peter O’Connor, Director of the Critical Research Unit in Applied Theatre at the Faculty of Education and Social Work. In the opening lecture, O’Connor argued that:
Creativity is increasingly being recognised as central to our humanity and to the ways in which we go about our personal and work lives throughout our entire lives [and that this] is an exciting addition to the suite of subjects on offer, adding an important dimension for students pursuing undergraduate university study.
Lecturers for the course included highly regarded academics from a range of disciplines that include: Associate Professor Mark Sagar, Director of the Laboratory for Animate Technologies at the Auckland Bioengineering Institute, widely known for his Oscar-winning animation work on movies such as Avatar; Professor Donna Rose Addis, who leads the Memory Lab at the School of Psychology, and award-winning New Zealand author, Paula Morris, who convenes the Faculty of Arts’ Master of Creative Writing programme. International contributors in 2015 included Professor Michael Anderson, Professor of Education (Arts and Creativity) at the University of Sydney. The inaugural Creative Process lecture was held on 22 July 2015, a date that also marked Patron Robert Gardiner’s 82nd birthday.
The Creative Future
The CTP seeks to enhance creativity through investment in appropriate people and projects that will add value to existing fields of knowledge and practice. All the groups the Project has worked with—academics, philanthropists, entrepreneurs and leaders in national and local government—have indicated there is strong will to make this happen. Donors and partners are interested in taking the CTP to the next level through educational initiatives, research programmes, and external partnerships to make New Zealand a leader in the rapidly expanding field of creative thinking and processes. As a longstanding laboratory for the integration of art and science, New Zealand is poised to capitalise on this advantage—and the CTP, based at the University of Auckland, is strongly positioned to lead the way to a more creative future.
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