Artists at work at Die Schlumper studio and gallery. Hamburg, Germany. Creativity is often described as a form of problem-solving. There is certainly truth in this. Creativity can help solve problems. But over the past two decades of facilitating creative practices, one pattern has become clear. Within an artistic or creative studio practice, creativity often serves a different purpose. A problem is not what initiates movement. Interest is. What is encountered first is uncert

Artist Sergei Eremichev displaying his work, made at Perspektiv art studio in Peterhof, Russia How does a facilitator know when someone is getting better in their creative practice? The question appears simple. Often it is answered by looking at the work. Compare today's drawing to last year's drawing. Compare the current painting to an earlier one. Identify what has improved. But much of what develops within a creative practice is not visible in the finished work. Curiosity

Artist Richard Nesbitt working at the ArtsWork studio, part of Autism Services, Inc. and now a part of People, Inc. Buffalo, NY, USA There is considerable historical, aesthetic, and intellectual investment in the idea of technique. When we encounter a work understood as technically masterful, we recognize that years of sustained attention have been embedded within it. The object holds evidence of time at a scale too large to precisely locate. Not simply t

NIAD Facilitator Spotlight: Andres Cisneros-Galindo. NIAD Art Center, Richmond, CA, USA. In a supported studio, collaboration is often described as something that happens between an artist and a facilitating artist. And it does. But that is only the most visible layer. There is another collaboration happening at all times - less named, but just as formative. What is made available between facilitating artists. A studio is not neutral. It is shaped by what is introduced, what