Please join us in congratulating the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity – Words Alive Volunteer Team of the Month for June 2017!
Each spring, Words Alive teams up with a local art leader to provide professional training and arts insight to students in the Adolescent Book Group. This year’s Arts Component theme was “presence” and allowed students to explore how they see themselves in the world through reading and discussing books, writing reflection letters and, finally, creating films. The Chuck Jones Center for Creativity worked with us to teach the students about stop motion animation, develop their skills and create a finished product for the final showcase at the Chuck Jones Gallery downtown!
Check Out the Volunteer of the Month Interview with The Chuck Jones Center for creativity:
1. Tell us a little about the Center for Creativity.
The Chuck Jones Center for Creativity is a 501(c)3 public charity based in Orange County, Calif. Chuck Jones was the creative genius who gave life to Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote and Bugs Bunny along with over 300 animated films. The Center, which he founded in 1999, is a gymnasium for the brain that fosters creative thinking – the thinking behind problem solving and innovation – by inspiring people to exercise their unique creative genius through creativity exercises. Creativity is like a muscle in your brain that needs exercise to get and stay healthy. The stronger that muscle is, the better it works in engaging tasks and solving problems. Our distinctive goal is not to teach the mechanics of art, but to teach creative thinking applicable to all aspects of life for people from early childhood to their golden years. We build important skills for school age children, support healthy cognitive abilities for seniors, increase work performance in organizations who see the value of pumping up creativity in their ranks and enhance function for children on the autism spectrum.
2. What was the best part of working with our students?
Our creativity is essential to problem solving and very much a part of our presence. Art is a visual language. Our programs are designed to engage students to explore new techniques that can enhance their ability to visually articulate their ideas and personal expressions. The best part about "Training the Trainers" was the open-minded collaboration between two passionate organizations working toward greater well-being for all youth. Literacy and art are a perfect fit.
Works created by students were thought out, compelling and deeply moving. There was a clear sense of greater understanding to their own presence. While it is the process that matters most, it is when we get lost in that process when we produce at our best.
We are so pleased that many students were able to visit the gallery. Seeing their own work displayed in an iconic gallery offers countless rewards.
3. What are you and your team reading lately?
Robert- “Caravaggio, a Life” by Helen Langdon
Denise- "Big Magic, Creative Living Beyond Fear" by Elizabeth Gilbert
Naylene- "Hellboy" by Agatha Christie
Craig- “Gut Feelings: The Intelligence of the Unconscious” by Gerd Gigerenzer
Purchase the anthology and watch the completed stop-motion animation films here!