Venture into the Visual

Creative Studies students study their interpretations of the same photograph of a tree. This experiment is done while we study the pixel grid, the foundation of all digital photographs. It reveals how the most simple digital translation—reduce this photograph of a tree to a one color image—can generate a wide range of results.

by Anne Hayden Stevens Why are stop signs red?  How did writing develop?  What is “abstract”, and how do we use abstract images and ideas? The Center for Talent Development’s Saturday Enrichment Program stretches your child’s thinking and encourages them to engage creatively with complex concepts. Your gifted child is full of questions (and theories!) about how the world around them works. Our new Creative Studies classes address the questions your child has about the visual world in particular. Take a moment to think about what “enrichment” means.  I define it as a way to deepen the level of inquiry into and comprehension of phenomena our kids experience every day. Creative Studies unpacks the visual artifacts of our media-rich existence, from picture books to the electromagnetic spectrum, and explores the role they play in our lives. Modern culture relies on visual design more than ever. Tools once reserved for the adult world (like PowerPoint or digital photography) are now staples in the elementary school classroom. Through analysis and understanding of the visual underpinnings of these tools, we can cultivate a sense of empowerment and aesthetic understanding to communicate ideas effectively. The arts are an excellent context for exploring the endless range of possible solutions to a problem. Creative Studies in-class experiments are often open-ended.  Students must frame problems for themselves and develop their own goals through discussion and trial and error. This approach nurtures self-sufficiency and a sense of creative authorship. Many problems in the adult world involve these sorts of challenges. Our Creative Studies experiments provide early opportunities to explore the emotions and intellectual challenges of the open-ended question. Based on my experience teaching Saturday Enrichment classes, I’ve found that students like having a context to probe and discuss the media they consume regularly.   Kids who love to draw, build or design, begin to see the connection between their interests and the making of visual culture. Our gifted children may be the innovators of their generation. Creative Studies courses lay the groundwork for using visual language as part of their innovation toolkit. Creative Studies classes will debut this fall at the Northwestern University site of the Saturday Enrichment Program.  Eight-week courses are offered as follows: “Studying the Visual World” for grades 2-3, “Images and Text” for grades 3-4, “Art and Science of Color” for grades 5-6. So, share your thoughts: How can creative study enhance the learning experience of our gifted children?   Are you aware of other program models that venture into this arena? Anne Hayden Stevens is a visual artist with an MA in Visual Studies from UC Berkeley. She has developed the Creative Studies program exclusively for the Center for Talent Development’s Saturday Enrichment Program, where she has taught since Fall 2010.