The Psychology of Creativity

presented by Renesan

The aim of the class is to promote the creativity of each participant so in addition to ideas about creativity it includes practical techniques. Even if you are not a practicing artist, you will find the ideas and techniques we will cover to be useful and enriching, not only for your appreciation of art, but in daily life.

This course examines the major theories of creativity. Special attention is given to brain hemisphere research. The course also engages the student directly with exercises in brain dominance, relaxation techniques, overcoming blocks, inventories of creative needs and objectives, communication skills for group creative processes, the role of technique, and the formation of a personal creative ethic.

Besides a workbook of extracts from essays, these books were used as a reference and are recommended (but not required) reading: Mary Richards, Centering in Pottery, Poetry, and the Person, and Eugen Herrigel’s Zen in the Art of Archery.

Monday • November 9 • 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Monday • November 16 • 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Total cost for the two Zoom sessions is $40 • To register, please visit renesan.org.

Questions can be directed to renesan@newmexico.com.

Instructor:
After receiving his PhD in Oral Interpretation from Northwestern University, Robert Benedetti was a founding member of The Court Theater at the University of Chicago, then an early member of the Second City Company. He taught acting for over fifty years at various universities, including Carnegie-Mellon, and was Chairman of the Acting Program at the Yale Drama School, and Dean of Theatre at the California Institute of the Arts. He has directed at theaters including the Tyrone Guthrie Theater, the Melbourne Theater Company (Australia), Milwaukee Rep, South Coast Rep, and the San Diego Rep. He has directed fourteen of Shakespeare’s plays at the Oregon, Colorado, and Great Lakes Shakespeare festivals. As a producer in film/TV, Benedetti has won three Best Picture Emmys and a Peabody Award, and was president of Ted Danson’s Anasazi Productions at Paramount Studios for five years. He has written six books on acting and film. In 2011 he was inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Theatre at the Kennedy Center. After moving to Santa Fe, he formed the New Mexico Actors Lab, with which he has directed twelve plays.