K12ArtChat the Podcast

Having an anti-racist curriculum requires attention all year long. In this episode The Creativity Department interviews Abby Birhanu, Francesca Levy, and Paula Liz from the Anti-Racist Art Teachers group of educators. Listen in to discover how to build an anti-racist classroom environment in a way that is responsible and student centered.

In this episode, The Creativity Department interviews Al Thomas, educator, principal, and visual storyteller about how creativity in the classroom provides opportunities for conversation and can help students process emotions and develop their own EQ. Through visual storytelling students can slow the world down, process emotion, and engage fully in a moment.

The Creativity Department speaks with sequential artist and author David Gorden about the importance of asking "why" questions during the process of character development to avoid stereotypes, and the value of understanding the "rules of art" before you try to bend them.

This week The Creativity Department speaks with Trevor Bryan, author of The Art of Comprehension. Discover new techniques and strategies to engage students and help them open up, connect to art and the world, and have meaningful discussions in the process.

Developing investigation, experimentation, and communication skills is the focus of AP & IB Art programs. This week, The Creativity Department speaks with high school art educator Connie Jimenez Zammett about how these programs challenge students to ask questions and inquire deeply about their process, empowering them to be independent thinkers.

Listen in to this conversation with Michael Hernandez (educator, speaker, and author) as the Creativity Department digs into how graphic novels (a.k.a. sequential art) can help students tell their stories and engage with important questions about life, experience, and art.

The difference between engaged and empowered students boils down to what you do for them versus what they do for themselves. In today’s world of constant distraction, students must be intrinsically motivated to buy into their learning. In this episode, The Creativity Department speaks with Kelly Young (@teachthisorthat) and Karen Caswell (@kcasw1) about shifting mindset beyond engagement and empowering students to be excited about using what they learn in ways that make sense to them - to OWN their learning.

Empathic curiosity, radical imagination, design thinking... these skills are essential for developing well-rounded students prepared to live in the world. In this episode The Creativity Department delves into these ideas with Jason Blair as they discuss his C4 research project with Columbus Museum of Art and Harvard’s Project Zero.

Happy New Year! Matt and Laura talk about the difficulties of this past year, their personal goals for 2021, and how to find balance between art, work, and life.

Chris Sweeney, Art/Makerspace Teacher and Artist in Philadelphia, details what a makerspace is and how it can be used in any art classroom.