Creativity for everyone by everyone

The idea that creativity is for everyone is at the centre of professor David Gauntlett's work with his new lab, "Creativity Everything."

Professor Gauntlett, Ryerson's Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Creative Innovation and Leadership, launched the Creativity Everything lab at The Catalyst to bring a broad, inclusive approach to creativity.

"We are developing what we call 'platforms for creativity' that offer an invitation to step into a creative experience, and which support people to be more creative in everyday life," said professor Gauntlett.

Work in the lab is guided by three core themes. The first explores how best to unlock people's potential through platforms for creativity. The second is about creative identities and leadership and studies new and diverse models of leadership and inspiration. Finally, the third theme, which professor Gauntlett calls "public understanding of creative practice", seeks to engage wider audiences on these issues.

Throughout his career, professor Gauntlett has pioneered creative research methods where participants make items as part of the research process, giving them an opportunity to put together representations of their ideas before discussing them. His approach to the study of creativity is one that includes a variety of voices, both in terms of studying the topic but also in terms of who is involved in the research, and he tries to approach the research itself in a creative way.

Creativity practised by everyone, even little acts of creativity every day, can build to being a significant political and cultural shift, he argues. "That shift to realizing you can be a maker of stuff in your life, compared to merely being a consumer or customer of things, is an important one," he said. "People are more engaged in their lives, activities, learning, work, everything."

Creativity Everything has recently been collaborating with Artscape, a group of not-for-profit organizations that help make space for creative work, to develop their programming for creative entrepreneurs in Toronto. The lab has also worked with the LEGO Group in Denmark on integrating diversity and inclusion into the company ethos. Workshops in Toronto libraries, as well as ones on the Ryerson campus, are part of professor Gauntlett's mandate to encourage public understanding and participation.

Professor Gauntlett has published several books, most recently releasing a second edition in 2018 of his book, Making is Connecting (Polity). He is working on a new book called An Experimental Culture of All Kinds of Things Made by Everybody.

Want to get creative?

Free workshops are offered to anyone interested in exploring creativity, with topics ranging from beading to zine-making. Everyone is also invited to creativity meetups where people come to work on their personal creative projects.

Learn more about the Creativity Everything lab (external link)  and its workshops.

The Canada Research Chair in Creative Innovation and Leadership is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.