Creativity, Connectivity and the Mind’s Best Work

How can we bridge the ingenuity gap in the 21st Century?

Scholar Thomas Homer Dixon describes the “ingenuity gap” – the space between problems that arise and our ability to solve them – as growing today at an alarming rate ( in business, scientific research, education, the environment and world affairs).  

Author Ken Robinson proclaims we are “Out of Our Minds” to have sidelined creativity and the arts when every layer of American society from elementary education to supply-side economics is starved for more imagination, more original thinking, and more creative intelligence. 

Come hear John Cimino, president of Creative Leaps International, on Tuesday September 9th explore the “habits of mind” linked to creativity, ingenuity and imaginative insights. He will also review recent findings in neuroscience revealing the brain’s unique experience of the arts and arts-based thinking. 

Right along side creativity, Cimino emphasizes the need for connectivity, that is, thinking across boundaries, disciplines and cultures to address the complex issues of a globally inter-connected world.  According to Cimino, designing “high tech, high touch” environments for creativity and connectivity is the central challenge of our institutions of higher education, research and professional development.  Cimino will also share his vision for a network of Renaissance Centers for Innovation, Learning and Leadership and their significance in bridging knowledge across disciplines.

Come join John Cimino for an evening of spirited dialogue, creative collaboration and exploration of a new vision for interdisciplinary learning and leadership on Tuesday September 9th at the DePaul Center 1 East Jackson Room 8010 ( 8th floor) Chicago from 7 to 9pm. Admission if free but you must register with me at Lisa@EntrepreneurtheArts.com

About John Cimino

John Cimino is president of Creative Leaps International (1992), The Learning Arts (1982) and founding president and CEO of their parent company, Associated Solo Artists, Inc. (1972). Educated at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (biology & physics), the State University of New York at Albany (learning theory), and the Manhattan and Juilliard Schools of Music (music & voice), Cimino holds a uniquely interdisciplinary perspective and works across a host of disciplines dedicated to learning and human development. He is the winner of more than 20 national and international awards and prizes as an operatic and concert performer and has performed to acclaim throughout Europe and the continental United States in productions including LA BOHEME (Academy of Music, Philadelphia, opposite tenor Luciano Pavarotti, and LUISA MILLER (International Verdi Festival of Busetto, Italy, opposite tenor Carlo Bergonzi).

As a champion of the arts in education and professional life, Cimino has brought his “Concerts of Ideas” and other innovative arts programming into projects of the White House, the Center for Creative Leadership, WDC’s Center for Excellence in Municipal Management, and the leadership training programs of dozens of Fortune 500 companies including GE, IBM, Pfizer, McDonnell Douglas, the SC Johnson Company and Starbucks as well as to numerous universities and professional organizations. Recent projects include presentations before the Global Leadership Forum (Istanbul), the International Organization Development Association (Guanajuato), the Organizational Behavior Teaching Society (Irvine, Ca), the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (Alexandria, VA) the Association for Managers of Innovation (Greensboro, NC), the “Crossing Paths” Conference on interdisciplinary approaches to artist development (Indianapolis, IN), the “Common Ground” Conference speaking on Innovations Beyond the Classroom in Arts-Based Learning (Rochester), the NYSAAE Conference on “Using the Arts to Energize the Core Curriculum” (Bard College, Poughkeepsie) and the education conference of the Johnson City Arts Council in Tennessee, “The Arts Advantage in Teaching, Learning and Leadership”. Cimino is also a consultant and advisor to universities engaged in interdisciplinary reorganization and the introduction of arts-based teaching and learning, leadership, creativity and entrepreneurship initiatives, across the university curriculum.

Learn more about Creative Leaps Intl of email John at jcimino@creativeleaps.org