Arts and Innovation Day

My Sierra College Leadership Institute (SCLI) project, “Arts and Innovation Day”, was held on the Sierra College Rocklin campus on Thursday, September 26th, 2013. I was the project manager with guidance and assistance from Anthony Maki-Gill.

My participation in SCLI, and subsequent participation on various committees, provided unique learning opportunities and made it possible for me to collaborate with administration, staff and faculty across disciplines. These connections provided fertile ground for the initial collaboration between the Music and Art Departments to grow, over a year’s time, into “Arts and Innovation Day” (AAI), an all-day, multidisciplinary event that combined the creative resources of faculty from the English, Music, Art, Applied Art & Design, Photography, Theater Arts, Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science, Astronomy, Mechatronics, Communications, DFST/World Languages, Biology, Agriculture, Sociology, Psychology/Women and Gender Studies, Philosophy, Welding Departments and the CTE program. The enthusiast support of colleagues, guest presenters and community partners was a confirmation of a vital, collaborative culture at Sierra College. When I first introduced this project, I found a common, creative vision already existed. Realizing this vision was then just a matter of following leads, providing needed materials and facilitating desired connections. This event was truly the product of collaborative teamwork.

The event was sponsored by Sierra College Foundation, Patrons Club, ASSC, Placer Arts Council, AAUW, Placer Nature Center, Auburn Sugar Plump Fairies and Auburn Hip Hop Congress.

The event was multi-disciplinary and offered a wide range of activities. See attached PDFs. These activities included:

1. A Creativity Fair on the Quad with vendors, student clubs, faculty displays, guest schools, arts therapy, presentations, nature tour and hands-on activities. Students used an Event Passport to get stamps for participation points.

2. Arts related workshops on the Quad and in lecture halls

3. Art in Unexpected Places Tour - student used a brochure to tour the art installations on the Sierra College campus.

4. Ridley Art Gallery exhibit featuring a Kinetic Sculpture prototype.

5. Musical performances by faculty and students in the Amphitheater and on the quad during the afternoon and an Urban Arts Concert in the evening sponsored by Hip Hop Congress and the Auburn Sugar Plump Fairies.

6. Faculty and Guest Speakers featured in designated lecture halls around campus. Larry Ortiz and Angela Tahti hosted a Creativity Salon. Shawna Martinez lectured on Nature Deficit Disorder and Mike Crain lectured on using Max/MSP for creative solutions.

7. Featured keynote speakers were Angela Tahti, Kathleen Taylor-Fillebrown Ph.D and Maryanne Rogers, Ph.D.

The event hosted two professors from Stanford University. One of our keynote speakers, Maryanna Rogers, Ph.D, is Executive Education Workshop Facilitator and Course Designer for the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school) at Stanford University. Ms Rogers is also the Director of Innovation for The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose. Composer, Carr Wilkerson is a System Administrator at Stanford’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) and is also on the faculty of Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school). Other notable guest speakers include Angela Tahti, executive director of the Arts Council of Placer County DBA PlacerArts, and Larry Ortiz, executive director of the Arts Council of Nevada County.

We also provided teacher workshops in the afternoon. Professor Ianna Frisby presented a STEM to STEAM workshop and Professor Sam Tubiolo has also arranged for The California Arts Project (TCAP) to present an afternoon workshop about Arts and Common Core curriculum.