The Joy of Doing vs. The Joy of Sharing
For the last 10 years I have loved sneaking into the studios to see our students engrossed in making artwork. I have become fascinated with the process of making art and the deep concentration that’s required. Without a doubt, you can see the wheels turning, the problem-solving skills at work…
Read More
Defend the Imagination
Ten years ago I was trying to figure out how to connect Contemporary Art to a compelling and fun classroom experience. And, in order to do so, I needed to truly understand what drove artists to do what they do. While this was going on, I was also uncovering so…
Read More
The Best Art Project? Starting a New Art School!!!
A couple weeks ago, I wrote “Monday Thoughts” with the promise of sharing some learnings that you may find both interesting and personally helpful as we approached our 10th anniversary. The photograph above captures our “window sign” during the construction phase leading up to the opening of our first school…
Read More
Ten Years and Counting
OK, I have an assignment for you. Close your eyes and think about where you were 10 years ago. Where were you in your life? What were you happy about and what were you trying to change? What was motivating you? What was going on around you? And, what is…
Read More
Visual Curiosity
Can you tell me what the image above is? One of the things that I love most about going on a trail-walk is coming around the bend and finding a landscape that stops me in my tracks. My visual curiosity often takes over and I find myself lost in…
Read More
The Most Compelling Creative Camps
I like nothing more than visiting our schools on Fridays during the summer. This allows me to observe the wind down of a week of camp and inevitably the joy on our students faces. As I bounced across a couple schools last Friday, I also had a chance to…
Read More
The Supreme Court, Warhol, Prince and Transformation
When we started One River School, I was particularly interested in creating a “transformative” experience and over the last 10 years I feel that in many ways our unique methods have rolled up into something that has accomplished this goal. When it comes to art making, the term “transformation” is…
Read More
Happy Birthday America
As I started to write my Monday Thoughts, I wanted to honor July 4th by wishing happy birthday to all Americans on this date. But, at the same time, I started to wonder why I was feeling trepidation about writing this and it made me think a little bit deeper…
Read More
The Evolving Landscape
Last week I had the pleasure of taking almost 30 of our key employees to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Besides having an incredible day, I found myself thinking about our growth and evolving landscape against the backdrop of New York’s evolving landscape. 10 years have passed since we started…
Read More