Why Change? A Podcast for the Creative Generation Creative Generation

During this episode of Why Change? co-hosts Karla and Jeff discuss their approach to the fall and winter of harvesting and rest. Jeff shares his discussion with Natlie Elam and Bronwyn Mauldin about their new report “Agents of Change: Young Adult Advisory Councils at Arts and Culture Nonprofits.”  The discussion covers diverse topics of intergenerationality, intentionality, and our commitments to evolution.

In this episode you’ll learn:


The findings of a new report about young adult advisory councils in arts and culture organizations;


How intergenerational research can be conducted successfully; and


Why evolutionary practice must be embedded throughout knowledge exchange in the arts and culture sector.



Check out some of the things mentioned during this podcast, including: 


Agents of Change: Young Adult Advisory Councils at Arts and Culture Nonprofits


Democratize Your Data zine by Bronwyn Mauldin


Practicing Equitable Intergenerational Collaboration by Jeff M. Poulin


https://www.lacountyarts.org/learning/research-evaluation/research-lab  and 


http://www.bronwynmauldin.com



About Natalie Elam & Bronwyn Mauldin 

Bronwyn Mauldin is Director of Research and Evaluation at the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture where she leads a team that utilizes data and research methods to strengthen the arts ecology and ensure all residents have equitable access to the arts. She has conducted studies on salaries, benefits, and volunteers in local arts nonprofits. She co-led creation of the Arts Ed Profile, collecting K-12 arts education data from all 80 public school districts in LA County and making it publicly available through an online interactive tool. She was a key instigator of the annual Arts Datathon, and she is adjunct faculty in the arts administration master’s program at Claremont Graduate University. Ms. Mauldin has spent her career conducting applied research and evaluation for nonprofits, philanthropies, and government. She has evaluated farmworker programs, studied employment conditions for truck drivers, analyzed apprenticeship opportunities in healthcare, and researched villager organizing in rural northeast Thailand. Ms. Mauldin is a novelist, poet, and zine maker, and has been a writer in residence at Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado, Denali National Park in Alaska, and Kulturni Centar REX in Belgrade, Serbia.

Natalie Elam is a research consultant at the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture and Annual Giving Communications Manager at Santa Clara University.  

Natalie holds a Masters of Arts in Arts Management from the Center For Business & Management of the Arts at Claremont Graduate University, where she graduated in December 2021. She also earned a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art and a Bachelor of Science in Anthropology from Santa Clara University in June 2019.

Outside of the professional sphere, Natalie enjoys traveling, volunteering, cooking, creating art, and reading.

This episode was produced by Jeff M. Poulin. The artwork is by Bridget Woodbury. The audio is edited by Katie Rainey. This podcasts’ theme music is by Distant Cousins. For more information on this episode and Creative Generation please visit the episode’s webpage and follow us on social media @Campaign4GenC 


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During this episode of Why Change? co-hosts Ashraf and Jeff discuss their latest news and how we remain connected as colleagues. Jeff shares his conversation with Dr. Peter O‘Connor from the Centre for the Arts and Social Transformation at the University of Auckland. They discuss the role of the arts in human development, recovery, and wellbeing. Ashraf and Jeff conclude their thoughts and intergenerationality, the role of the arts in schools, and the social responsibility of evolving our communities. 

In this episode you’ll learn:


About the role of the arts in social transformation;


How teaching artists can build and impact communities; and


The ways in which artists and academics can integrate their work to advance discourses for our sector.



Check out some of the things mentioned during this podcast, including: 


The Centre for the Arts and Social Transformation at the University of Auckland


Te Rito Toi


International Teaching Artists Conference 7


Allison Russell: The transmogrification of trauma into art



ABOUT PETER O’CONNOR: 

Professor O’Connor is the Director of the Centre for Arts and Social Transformation, The Centre researches on the possibilities for the arts to create more socially just and equitable worlds. He is an internationally recognised expert in making and researching applied theatre and drama education. He has made theatre in prisons, psychiatric hospitals, earthquake zones and with the homeless. . His work in Christchurch schools following the series of earthquakes led to UNESCO funded research and programme development and the development of the Teaspoon of Light Theatre Company which then worked in Mexico City after major earthquakes in 2017. Peter's most recent research includes multi and interdisciplinary studies on the creative pedagogies and the arts, the nature of embodied learning and the pedagogy of surprise. In 2019 the play he directed with the Hobson Street Theatre Company, New Zealand's only theatre company for people who are or have been homeless, won the Arts Access Creative New Zealand Community Arts Award. He continued his theatre making with the homeless at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles in conjunction with the Skid Row Housing Trust. In 2020 He was presented with the President's Award by Drama New Zealand for his life long contribution to Drama education and social justice. He led the development of Te Rito Toi, an on line resource to support the return to schools during COVID 19 by using an arts and well being approach. Used in 120 countries around the world, the site had over 280,000 page views in its first month of use.  He leads the University of Auckland team working alongside the Sir John Kirwan Foundation on a mental health education approach for Primary schools.

This episode was produced by Jeff M. Poulin. The artwork is by Bridget Woodbury. The audio is edited by Katie Rainey. This podcasts’ theme music is by Distant Cousins. For more information on this episode and Creative Generation please visit the episode’s webpage and follow us on social media @Campaign4GenC 


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During this episode of Why Change? co-hosts Madeleine and Jeff discuss their change of personal and professional seasons, including Madeleine’s cross-sector work. Jeff shares his interview with Lisa Donovan which covers a broad array of topics from arts integration to community development, network building, and even professional learning. Madeleine and Jeff discuss the asset-based approaches of cross-sector work, the strength of practitioners at the intersections, and inherent knowledge of rural communities.



In this episode you’ll learn:


The expansive role of the arts intersecting with numerous sectors of community life;


How arts education and arts management practices lead the way in cross-sector dialogues; and


The multitude of ways cultural practitioners can advance dialogues about social change through multi-sector advocacy.



Check out some of the things mentioned during this podcast, including: 


Voices from the field: Teachers’ views on the relevance of arts integration


Shell Education books on Arts Integration by Lisa Donovan


Teacher as Curator: Formative Assessment and Arts-Based Strategies


Leveraging Change—Increasing Access to Arts Education in Rural Areas


The Berkshire County Blueprint for Arts Integration and Education


Berkshire Regional Arts Integration Network (BRAINworks)


Berkshire Cultural Asset Network (BCAN)


Think Like A Region TED Talk





ABOUT LISA DONOVAN:

Lisa Donovan, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Fine and Performing Arts Department at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. A theater artist, educator, administrator and researcher. Before joining MCLA Lisa was  the Director of the Creative Arts in Learning Division at Lesley University. She has a broad range of experience in a variety of arts organizations including: Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, the Berkshire Opera Company, Barrington Stage Company, University of Massachusetts Department of Theater, as well as Boston University's Theater, Visual Arts, and Tanglewood Institutes. She was formerly the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Alliance for Arts Education, has served as co-principal investigator of a research project funded by the Ford Foundation that focused on teachers' perspectives on the relevance of arts integration. Lisa has taught internationally in Japan and Israel, and throughout the United States. She is co-editor of a new book series on arts integration published by Shell Education including Integrating the Arts Across the Content Areas (2012), Strategies to Integrate the Arts in Mathematics (2013) and Strategies to Integrate the Arts in English Language Arts (2013)



This episode was produced by Jeff M. Poulin. The artwork is by Bridget Woodbury. The audio is edited by Katie Rainey. This podcasts’ theme music is by Distant Cousins. For more information on this episode and Creative Generation please visit the episode’s webpage and follow us on social media @Campaign4GenC 


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Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/whychange/support

During this episode of Why Change? Jeff shares some reflections about the resilience of the creative community in his home state of Maine in the wake of recent tragedy. He interviews longtime arts education leader and advocate, Argy Nestor, who shares reflections on changemaking at the local, state, and international levels. They reflect on working together, perseverance, and a commitment to investing in people and relationships.

In this episode you’ll learn:


How the arts are naturally integrated into our teaching, learning, and ways of life;


Ways to center relationships in cultivating the next generation of leaders and changemakers; and


Why committing to creative and education practices can make the difference in our work.



Check out some of the things mentioned during this podcast, including: 


Argy’s Point of View: Maine Arts Ed blog


Maine Arts Education Partners in Leadership


HundrED


Teaching and Learning in Malawi Argy Nestor & Lindsay Pinchbeck 


Catching Fireflies book


Enough. Plays to End Gun Violence


Supporting Victims and Families of the Tragedy in Lewiston





ABOUT ARGY NESTOR: 

Argy Nestor has been passionate about education for 40 years. She started her career as a visual arts teacher (30 years), served as the visual and performing arts specialist at the Maine Department of Education (7 years) and was the Director of Arts Education at the Maine Arts Commission since 2013. Argy serves on the Arts Education Advisory Council with the Americans for the Arts. Argy received her master’s degree in education from the University of Maine, Orono and Bachelor of Arts in Arts Education from Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ.

Argy is most proud of the collaborative accomplishments of the Maine Arts Leadership Initiative (MALI). She is deeply committed to facilitating learning opportunities for educators knowing that it will impact the achievement of all students. The arts education community in Maine is strong and many teachers have been invited to the table at the local level due to their involvement in MALI. Argy has a popular blog at meartsed.wordpress.com/ where she makes daily posts with a plethora of information and the stories of educators, students, and arts organizations.

Argy is the 1995 Maine Teacher of the Year. In 2014 she was the recipient of the National Art Education Association Distinguished Service Award. She was named the 2013 Maine Art Educator Advocate of the Year and the 2012 Art in the Heart Advocate. Argy was presented the Maine Middle Level Association Outstanding Middle Level Educator of the Year Award in 2005. She traveled with the Fulbright Memorial Fund Teachers program to Japan in 2000.

During Argy’s career she has presented at the regional, state, and national level on curriculum integration, literacy, assessment, gifted and talented, advocacy, and the value of arts education at the heart of all curriculum. In July 2016 Argy had an amazing opportunity to travel to Malawi, Africa where she worked with teachers providing a 10 - day arts integration workshop. In 2023, Argy co-authored “Catching Firelies” with poet Jean Feldeisen.

This episode was produced by Jeff M. Poulin. The artwork is by Bridget Woodbury. The audio is edited by Katie Rainey. This podcasts’ theme music is by Distant Cousins. For more information on this episode and Creative Generation please visit the episode’s webpage and follow us on social media @Campaign4GenC.


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During this episode of Why Change? co-hosts Rachael and Jeff discuss their recent work and draw connections to Jeff’s interview. Jeff shares his conversation with Jean Hendrickson, a champion for arts integration in her community and around the world. They discuss the opportunities and challenge of scaling and the bravery needed to achieve it. Rachael and Jeff share their hopes and frustrations with adoption of permission practices in education reform.

In this episode you’ll learn:


About a model of whole school arts integration and how it emerged;


How the story of a champion of arts integration influenced the adoption of a practice; and 


Why the arts should remain at the center of all we do as educators, leaders, and advocates.



Check out some of the things mentioned during this podcast, including: 


Sorgente research project


Ireland’s Basic Income for the Arts pilot scheme


Oklahoma A+ Schools Institute at the University of Central Oklahoma


A+ Essentials framework


S3 Ep14: Grasping The Aerosol Of Creativity With Michael Anderson


Preparing Educators for Arts Integration: Placing Creativity at the Center of Learning book


The A+ Schools Program: School, Community, Teacher, and Student Effects. (Report #6 in a series of seven Policy Reports Summarizing the Four-Year Pilot of A+ Schools in North Carolina)



About Jean Hendrickson

Director emeritus of Oklahoma A+ Schools at the University of Central Oklahoma, Jean is a speaker and writer who consults with those that share her belief that all children are entitled to a rich, full, educational experience that equips them to take their rightful place in the world. She works with groups such as the National A+ Schools Consortium (www.nationalaplusschools.org), the Americans for the Arts, Crystal Bridges, and other like-minded organizations working to put the arts in their rightful place in schools and communities.

Executive director for OKA+ Schools from 2003-2014, Jean directed development across the state and fostered national and international partnerships. OKA+ Schools’ model has been cited in such works as Sir Ken Robinson’s books, Creative Schools and The Element, the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities’ landmark report Reinvesting in Arts Education: Winning America’s Future through Creative Schools, the latter of which launched the nationwide Turnaround Arts initiative for which she served as a member of the team that trained the schools’ cadres for the first two years. Jean authored a chapter in the book Preparing Educators for Arts Integration, a project of the Arts Education Partnership’s Higher Ed Task Force, and has contributed numerous articles and other works to such as Education Week, Americans for the Arts, and other educational organizations.

Described by Sir Ken as “one of the most impressive people I know in education,” Jean was a principal in Oklahoma City for seventeen years and named National Distinguished Principal in 2001 as well as receiving many other recognitions throughout her career.

Jean received her Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, and the “Outstanding Future Teacher” award from Oklahoma City University. She received her master’s, also summa, from the University of Central Oklahoma. She has served on numerous boards, as a founding member of Creative Oklahoma, a trustee for the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, Visionary Oklahoma Women and founding member of Harding Fine Arts Academy in Oklahoma City. She and her husband reside in Oklahoma City.

This episode was produced by Jeff M. Poulin. The artwork is by Bridget Woodbury. The audio is edited by Katie Rainey. This podcasts’ theme music is by Distant Cousins. For more information on this episode and Creative Generation please visit the episode’s webpage and follow us on social media @Campaign4GenC


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During this episode of Why Change? co-hosts Rachael and Jeff discuss their upcoming work plans. Rachael shares her interview with theater-maker Kady Robinson. They discuss Kady’s work exploring gender fluidity in contrast with growing up in Australian military culture. Rachael and Jeff unpick the implications of challenging work with young creatives and the programs which support them.

In this episode you’ll learn:


How intersectional social identities can be explored through art-making;


The ways programs support and protect young creatives challenging dominant narratives in their work; and


Strategies that the education and creative sectors can hold space for socially engaged art-making.



Check out some of the things mentioned during this podcast, including: 


Universal Income for Creative Workers in Ireland


PYT Fairfield


Stage Soldiers at PYT Fairfield


World Pride Australia 2023


S2 Ep21: Creativity In Conflict With Chen Alon


“Safeguarding Artistic Freedom,” the 9th World Summit Discussion Paper


Student Artwork in U.S. Capitol - Washington Post



For support, please visit Trans Lifeline.



ABOUT KADY ROBINSON: 

Kady Robinson [working title] (she/her) is a debuting performer, writer and theatre maker from Campbelltown. They graduated from UOW with a Bachelor of Creative Arts Theatre in 2017 and joined PYT Fairfield’s Ensemble program in 2019. They have toured with youngstars2.com’s children’s performances for 4 years and have performed in many of the amateur musical productions by Campbelltown’s World Of Fine Theatre And Music (WOFTAM).

This episode was produced by Rachael Jacobs; the executive producer is Jeff M. Poulin. The artwork is by Bridget Woodbury. The audio is edited by Katie Rainey. This podcasts’ theme music is by Distant Cousins. For more information on this episode and Creative Generation please visit the episode’s webpage and follow us on social media @Campaign4GenC 


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Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/whychange/support