To make real magic, you’ve got to identify the conditions that make you productively uncomfortable, and make the decision to put yourself in those conditions. It’s taken me a long time to hone my ability to identify and embrace those conditions for myself, but now that I’m working for myself, I’ve found it’s easier to lean into them.

The next iteration of Interchange (my series of workshops) is happening IN PERSON, and it’s called Adventure | Reflection.

What can we learn about ourselves if we approach an experience as an adventure? In this in-person session, we will explore new and familiar surroundings while we let curiosity and serendipity take the lead.

I’m offering a new series of virtual monthly workshops in 2022. The series is called Interchange, with each month’s offering focusing on a different theme. Since it’s the launch of a new endeavor, here’s a bit of backstory and information about it. You can consider this an FAQ, but since these aren’t technically questions that have been frequently asked, think of it as Framing, Articulating Questions.

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m always trying to offer visitors an unexpected experience during their time in the museum. I like delight and surprise (who doesn’t?), and I heartily believe that an art museum is ripe to provide both of those things.

An interdepartmental team of curators and educators came together to brainstorm ideas for how to take action in response, and after some discussion, we decided to focus in on this section: “Always be just as ready to listen as you are emboldened to speak out for or against others.”

What would happen when a bunch of us excellent talkers and wordsmiths were asked to put together an object-inspired experience in a short amount of time without the resources and familiarity of the usual lesson planning process?

The spirit of play. That’s how I’m referring to it, at least.  The same idea was talked about as “being OK with failure”, “going in without predetermined outcomes”, and “iterative approaches”, but it was all shades of the same thing, and it was popping up everywhere.