In fiscal year 2024, the Museum’s Big & Little Podcast began a Creativity Series exploring what creativity looks like across different disciplines and how we might inspire children to be creative. Seven episodes were produced covering a diverse range of topics from wooden quilt making, coding for children, a cross-country community of practice, to a virtual children’s art museum, and the imaginative powers of jazz music.
“Cultivating the Components of Creativity,” featured Laura Petrovich-Cheney, an artist, maker, educator, and a recent Gallery artist at Boston Children’s Museum. Her exhibit, Weathered Shapes, Wooden Quilts brings together the traditional crafts of wood sculpture and quilt making to show the potential of rebuilding and hope. Laura talked with Carole Charnow, the Museum’s President and CEO, about the inspiration behind her art, the key components of creativity, and advice for parents, caregivers, and educators.
The second Creativity Series episode featured the founders of the Children’s Art Museum of India (CAMI) about the value in building a creative platform for the children, by the children, of the children. Manya and Krish founded CAMI in 2022 when they were 14 and 12 years old, respectively. Since then, the two have been working tirelessly to create and expand CAMI’s reach and continue to carve out this important space for children’s creativity.
The third episode, “Creativity through Collaboration” explored the importance of connection, collaboration, and community. Through a LEGO grant, called the LEGO Playful Learning Museum Network, institutions across the country were tasked with creating a community of practice that focused on playful learning. Three representatives from LEGO’s community of practice who connected over a shared interest in Tinkering Inventive Playsets were Nick Villagra from the Connecticut Science Center, Michael Wong from the Exploratorium, and Brendan Takenaga from Boston Children’s Museum.
In “Lifelong Kindergarten, Lifelong Creativity,” the fourth episode of the series, Dr. Mitchel Resnick, the LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research at the MIT Media Lab, joined the show to discuss his new project OctoStudio, the value of Kindergarten style learning, the 4 P’s of Creative Learning, and the relationship between technology and creative learning.
In the fifth installment of the Creativity Series, the podcast welcomed Ashleigh Gordon, the co-founder, Artistic Director, and violist of Castle of our Skins, a Boston-based concert and educational series devoted to celebrating Black Artistry through music. Ashleigh discussed the intersection of music, education, and creative expression, the inspiration behind founding Castle of our Skins, and how to encourage musical exposure and exploration for children.
In episode six, “Captivating Creations with Bernie Zubrowski,” Bernie Zubrowski, a former Boston Children’s Museum employee and creator of the Museum’s Bubbles and Raceways exhibits who has dedicated his career to science education, the arts, and kinetic sculptures, continuing to inspire creativity and scientific exploration.
Finally, in the most recent episode, Vaughan Bradley-Willemann, lifelong Violinist and Boston Children’s Museum’s Senior Director of Arts and Social Impact, sat down with jazz composer, musician, and founder and artistic director of the Jazz Urbane Collective, Dr. Bill Banfield, to uncover the magic that happens when young minds engage with the art of improvisation and musical expression. The two musicians discuss how jazz music sparks children’s imagination, the story and vision behind the Jazz Urbane Collective, and tips for parents and caregivers on cultivating a love of music and the arts in their families.