Applied Art Thinking Workshop

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF PROJECT Applied Art Thinking Workshop This is an action research project, testing my hypothesis that art thinking techniques can be used to develop creative-thinking skills. I implemented two workshops to test my idea of using art, and in this case drawing, to help people develop creative-thinking skills. The first workshop was virtual, intended as a pilot to resolve any process issues. The second workshop was in-person as a part of the CREA Conference in Italy. Prior to discussing the outcomes and key learnings of the workshops I spend a big portion of this paper explaining the three key areas of inquiry which inform my workshop design: art education research, art thinking, and drawing as a thinking tool. The conceptual framework of my workshop design is that creative-thinking skills are developed while practicing drawing techniques and that drawing is a thinking tool. The intent of my workshop design is to help people define problems in a deeper, more meaningful way to identify the right problem before jumping to a solution. This refers to the first phase of the creative problem-solving process. Both workshops were successful in achieving my intended learning outcome. All participants saw a problem in a different way, and some experienced “aha” moments. There are a few key lessons I learned along the way, detailed in this paper, that I plan to apply in a Ph.D. art education research program