UNB to host Creative Connections conference
Author: UNB Newsroom
Posted on Oct 10, 2019
Category: UNB Fredericton
The Atlantic Centre for Creativity is holding its second biennial Creative Connections Conference, in collaboration with the University of New Brunswick and the Pond-Deshpande Centre for Social Innovation.
The conference, which will run from Thursday, Oct. 24, to Saturday, Oct. 26, at the Wu Conference Centre on UNB’s Fredericton campus, will feature approximately 45 presentations and workshops, three keynote speakers and a creative showcase. Students, staff, faculty, administrators, government officials and members of the public are invited to attend.
As creativity is the basis of innovation, Dr. Mary Blatherwick and several colleagues from various disciplines across UNB started this initiative four years ago to promote research and programming in the area of creativity and innovation at UNB.
"Our steering committee organizes a major event each year such as: The Year of Creativity (a year-long series of talks, workshops and presentations on innovation), the first Creative Connections conference and a symposium in order to share research about creativity and explore its many applications in different fields,” says Dr. Blatherwick. “We also work collaboratively to form partnerships across our campus and the Atlantic region.”
Keynotes for this year’s conference include Christine Jones, director of the UNB Chorale and the Bel Canto Singers of Fredericton; Rankin MacSween, president and CEO of the New Dawn family of companies; and Mary Stewart, author of Launching the Imagination, a best-selling textbook on design.
Ms. Jones will give her keynote address, entitled “Affinity and Synthesis: Their Role in Interdisciplinary Audience Engagement,” on Thursday, Oct. 24, at 7 pm as part of the welcome reception at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery. In this address, Ms. Jones will describe how paintings can open new vistas in our listening and musical language and poetic expression can evoke a soundscape which enriches our viewing.
On Friday, Oct. 25, at 9 a.m., Mr. MacSween's will give an address titled “Encountering a Culture: The Story of New Dawn Enterprises.” He will share how New Dawn Enterprises came into being and the role it continues to play in promoting citizen-lead sustainable change. At 12:45 p.m. on that same day, Ms. Stewart will deliver her address, “From STEM to STEAM: Harvesting the Connective Power of Creativity.” In this presentation, she will describe the emphasis on STEM in education (science, technology, engineering and math) and the need to include the arts and creativity in order to enhance the connections between the other four disciplines.
Workshops cover a wide range of topics, such as critical nutrition counselling, learning with LEGO, photographic art education, engaging with queer youth through art practices, enhanced communication, stress resilience, print-making and problem solving, among others.
The registration deadline is Monday, Oct. 21.
Media contact: Angie Deveau