Cultivating Creativity

Click here to register safely and securely online.

The premise of this course is that a creative mindset can be consciously cultivated.  Nordell will explain key ideas from the course, including how the act of creating can lead to creativity itself.  To put theory into practice, Nordell will teach workshop participants the Zentangle drawing method at the end of his presentation.  It is an easy to learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns.  No artistic experience required.  All you need is a pencil, a pen and a blank piece of paper about 3.5 inches square. A fine tip pen is best, as is thicker paper, like card stock.

After twenty plus years as an internationally traveled and published photojournalist (Time, Newsweek, London Sunday Times, etc.), John Nordell is now an artist, educator and innovator.  His photographs have been selected for various local juried exhibitions, a national juried show at the Center for Fine Art Photography (Fort Collins, CO), and one of his images is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston, MA). After teaching for five years at Hallmark Institute of Photography, in 2012 Nordell completed a Masters of Education in Arts Education.  He is now an Assistant Professor of Communication at American International College (Springfield, MA) where he created the Visual and Digital Arts Program. Along with his photographic explorations, which have shifted from unaltered photojournalism to multilayered abstraction, he uses art tools to enhance seeing, whether doing blind contour drawings of objects at museums or inking and then block printing pieces of a shattered cell phone.  He has created award-winning videos on environmental sustainability and blogs about the creative process at CreateLookEnjoy.com.   Nordell is also a Certified Zentangle Teacher.  He recently received a faculty excellence award, primarily for his efforts with diversity and inclusion.

Admission is $10 for OLLI at BCC and Berkshire Museum members, and $15 for the general public.  Admission is free for Berkshire Community College students, youth 17 and under, and those holding WIC, EBT/SNAP, or ConnectorCare cards.

Pre-registration is required. Click here to register safely and securely online or call 413.236.2190 (M-F 9am-4pm) to register by phone with a credit card.

In Partnership with the Berkshire Museum