In this installment of the six-part series making the case why Ringling College of Art and Design matters, I elaborate on the reasons that what the College does here in Sarasota impacts not just the city, but the region, the nation and the world.  Ringling College has received numerous high rankings, awards and accolades. The REAL significance of receiving these acknowledgements is they demonstrate the impact of what we do. They are the seal of approval that declares to the world we do at the College matters.

I am not the only one taking notice of the change that is coming. The Wall Street Journal published an article asserting jobs requiring skill sets from BOTH sides of the brain “will be likely to pay well and to resist automation.” The article bases its statements on a new report from Burning Glass Technologies, a labor market analytics firm in Boston, which found an increase in job postings for what they call hybrid jobs.

That brings me to Reason #3 Ringling College matters to that future: People need to re-learn how to be creative so both the left AND the right sides of the brain are equally developed for success; that is, for people to become “brain bi-dexterous.”

People are born creative and curious. Watching children at play provides proof. They use their imaginations to create games, roles and characters without any real effort. They spend a great deal of time drawing, coloring, painting and having fun CREATING things out of nothing. They also solve problems in ways we adults would not consider. 

Then, these young people go to school. The emphasis changes—from the imagination and creativity of early childhood to the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. Our educational system has long had a strong focus on STEM, in many ways rightfully so. Those left-brain skills (logic, analytical thinking, numeracy) were crucial to advances through the Industrial and Technological Ages. But that has resulted in the atrophy of right-brain skills, our creativity and imagination, intuition and holistic thinking. This systemic lack of exercise of the right side of the brain leads many to believe they are not creative. Allowing those right-brain skills to go undeveloped will not prepare our children for the economy of tomorrow.

After decades of focusing on STEM learning and allowing our right brain muscles to atrophy, how are we going to develop that skill? Can we re-learn and re-harness creativity? Yes, we can.

I know our creative skills still exist, even though many of us lack the opportunities to nurture them. It is not true that people aren’t creative; rather, they have forgotten how to be. Ringling College is an institution dedicated to fostering an environment in which creativity can thrive to its fullest potential. We encourage everyone at Ringling College to embrace their imaginations in their work, regardless of the roles they hold on campus. Because we firmly believe the College has a responsibility to nurture creativity beyond our campus family, Ringling College extends the chance to harness imagination to the community at-large.

We provide opportunities for the creatively curious to engage with artists and designers through discussions and lectures; to exercise the right brain by offering a events and exhibits to spark the imagination; and to learn new skills through course offerings in various creative disciplines. We offer lifelong learning courses through our Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Ringling College. We offer businesses looking to enhance their creative approaches to problem-solving the chance to connect with students through the Collaboratory. Soon, we will open the Sarasota Museum of Art, a world-class art museum that will make contemporary art accessible to all ages and levels of art experience and knowledge.

Perhaps the most important way we, along with fellow colleges and universities in this region, hope to engage the community in re-learning how to be creative is through a proposed Center for Creativity, Collaboration, and Competitiveness. This idea for such a center is being put forth by the Cross College Alliance. The Center’s mission is to help our community, businesses, schools, nonprofits and others learn how to become creative again.

Strengthening our ability to use creativity in our lives and work is critical. CCA presented this idea to our state representatives to seek funding for launching this Center. The Sarasota-Manatee region has the opportunity to lead the way in embracing the new Creative Age and creating a community prepared for the economy that will exist in the future.

The need for a Center like this one is upon us. Lifelong learning will become critical as those with technical expertise seek to equip themselves with the creative skills necessary to qualify for tomorrow’s jobs.

There is still much to do. Our educational systems are slow to innovate. With a continued emphasis on only STEM versus STEAM (STEM with the Arts for creativity), they still prepare students for the past, not the future. We know, though, that we are making progress. As we engage with those who attend our events and programming, we see people thinking perhaps they are, or at least can be, creative. More importantly to preparing for the future, we see people beginning to VALUE creativity as a skill as much as numeracy and analytical thinking. That understanding of the VALUE of creativity and imagination is the first step to strengthening the right-brain skill set so necessary for success in the coming Creative Age.

Dr. Larry R. Thompson is president of Ringling College of Art and Design.