Imagination Conversation at UConn Greater Hartford (from left) Producer Libby Conn, Steve Dahlberg, Scott Noppe-Brandon, John Dankosky- photo by Catie Talarski
by John Dankosky – I am, by nature, both highly skeptical and wildly enthusiastic about conversations like the one we had last night in West Hartford. It was an “Imagination Conversation” sponsored by Lincoln Center Institute, and recorded for Friday’s Where We Live. That organization is putting on similar events in all 50 states, but they usually don’t take the form of a radio show.
Catie encapsulated the basic idea in this blog post, as we hoped to continue a discussion of the way creativity and imagination can be used in schools, civic life, politics, business and city planning.
That’s a pretty tall order – and, as I say, I’m pretty skeptical of the applicability of ideas as open-ended as “imagination.”
But guest Scott Noppe-Brandon of Lincoln Center, and Steve Dahlberg, head of the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination brought some very interesting ideas to the table – and the discussion seemed mostly very focused on specifics.
We largely steered clear of the fields we’ve previously plowed: How to make cities more vibrant by bringing in more “creative capital.” We also made a pretty good case that business, government and science are all places where creativity and imagination are sometimes more welcome than in the traditional arts communities we often think of.
The evening also included a very profitable networking session before and after the event, and an artist doing live
Artist John O'Donnell and his live "imagining" of the conversation
sketches onstage to correspond with our conversation (an animation of this, I hear, is to come). A group of very sharp visiting entrepreneurs from Kenya gave our discussion a global feel, and a Simsbury high school student brought things into perspective as she talked about the need to be able to speak openly about scary ideas – something most schools don’t stomach.
You’ll be able to listen for yourself on Friday morning, and I’m very interested to hear your feedback. Did we help explain why creativity and imagination are important? Are there ways they can be better integrated into our daily lives?
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