Year of Creativity wants to keep community creating

By SUSAN JONES

The Year of Creativity has had to get, well, creative, to carry on its mission in remote online settings.

The Center for Creativity and Year of Creativity are teaming up for the rest of this term to create a collaborative online project to help connect the community.

A new website was developed to showcase virtual workshops, a podcast, a virtual Open Mic, and more. There’s also a blog to follow.

The center also is posting #pittprompts on Twitter about different creative activities. One asked people to go for a walk using an activity tracing app that tracks your route and try to draw a fun shape with your walking route.

Members of the Pitt community haven’t stopped being creative just because they’re not on campus. Tag your creative pursuits on social media using the Year of Creativity tags: #PittCreates and #creativityliveshere hashtags. 

Projects that were awarded funding through the Year of Creativity can use their funds in the fall if they need to reschedule or otherwise adjust their timing because of the necessary precautions related to the pandemic. Send an email to yearof@pitt.edu to let the committee know about your change of plans. 

Creativity in the face of crisis

The creativity groups are confronting the COVID-19 crisis head on with a community-wide competition to craft a creative response to and intervention in the public health discussion: such as an earworm to remind people of important prevention strategies; a meme to encourage hand washing or social distancing; or a new communication tool to educate others on virus transmission.

The projects can be in any format, any genre, written or visual, analog or digital. Entries (.jpg or .png files for visual work, or PDF or Word for writing) may be submitted by email to schuckers@pitt.edu. If your entry is performative, please email for info on submitting an audio or video file.

​Deadline for entries is 5 p.m. April 10. Submissions are welcome from current or former Pitt students, faculty and staff at all campuses, as well as from the greater Pittsburgh community. 

All entries may be shared via C4C social media, and winning entries (yes, there will be prizes) will be selected based on creativity, accuracy and power of communication.

Other creative outlets

These programs are open to all faculty, staff and students at Pitt:

  • The Open Mic Nights that were held month at Nordy’s Place in William Pitt Union have moved online. The next one will be from 8:30 to 10 p.m. April 9 in Zoom. The link will be posted here closer to the date.

  • A Creative Café is online from 2:30 to 3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays where you can hang out and work alongside other makers. Access through the Creative Café Zoom link.

  • Two upcoming creative workshops are Works of Intention: Art as Meditation from 5 to 5:45 p.m. April 2, and Amiguri Basics from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. April 3.

  • A new podcast will feature students, faculty and staff who would like to talk about their creative lives. To share your maker passions with the broader University community, email ​creative@pitt.edu.

Keep up with the Center for Creativity on its website, creative.pitt.edu and on social media: @PittC4C on Twitter and Facebook; and centerforcreativity on Instagram.

Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 412-648-4294.

 

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