What's New

Helping Out a Chicago Culture Icon

2009-02-19T11:39:00.005-06:00

I've been working with Shirley Mordine, the founder and artistic director of the Mordine & Company Dance Theater on the occasion of the group's 40th anniversary. Shirley founded the Dance Department and the Dance Center at Columbia College.

Arts Activists Gather in Chicago

2009-01-13T11:07:00.004-06:00

Cultural producers from 18 cities visited Chicago during the mini-blizzard of January 9-11 to engage in a retreat around the arts and social change. This was an amazing group of artist-activists-educators who are working a wide range of community and political settings. The group met in the Co-Prosperity Sphere in Bridgeport. This was self-organized and not supported by any foundation or established cultural institution. Questions of politics, social change, civic engagement, economic critique, class and race privilege and the role of the arts in a post-Bush America were all raised and debated. How can this group of independent but loosely affiliated group of activists stay together and help one another? How can we work together and, at the same time, broaden our connections to the community and to people not currently being served by the economic and cultural infrastructure?

Artists Launch New Arts and Culture Magazine - Are They Nuts?

2008-12-16T14:59:00.004-06:00

Proximity Magazine recently launched in Chicago. The 150 page plus, perfect bound, full color magazine was co-founded by Rachel and Ed Marszewski, who are serial creative entrepreneurs who've helped organize such projects as Lumpen Magazine, The Co-Prosperity Sphere, Version Festival, and the Select Media Festival.Only a bunch of artists would start a new art magazine in the throes of a recession. But someone has to do it. Because, sure -- the economy is receding and politics are rent, but cultural production in Chicago is surging yet again.

Shifts in management and curatorial duties at some of our major art centers and museums are bringing in more challenging and fresh work. The schools are filled to the brim, and expanding their enrollment. And even though many beloved art spaces have retired, there seems to be double the amount of new galleries and spaces replacing them. Perhaps most significantly, our spring art season, with its attendant fairs and festivals, will prove once again that Chicago is one happening place.

But who would know? Most of this mysterious art activity goes unrecorded. Maybe an art enthusiast has posted a few comments on a blog, or we read about a controversy in one of our weeklies.

That’s where we come in.

Our mission is to amplify discourse on local and global art ecologies. We hope to serve as a map of artists, collectives and alternative spaces to commercial galleries, museums and universities¬ as means of connecting and cultivating sustainable creative communities. Read the rest of the founding statement.

Grab This Widget

2008-12-01T16:11:00.001-06:00

Get this widget! Click on "Share this widget." You'll see icons for popular content tools - click on the one you use and you'll get the code to embed this widget on your site.

Visit the Widget Gallery

Tom Moderates Panel on "Power of Creativity in Chicago"

2008-11-19T14:01:00.005-06:00

Leadership Greater Chicago is a civic networking and leadership development organization, Founded in 1986, each year 35 up-and-coming business and nonprofit leaders are put together in a class to explore major issues of the Chicago region. Tom was a member of the Class of 1990. On November 18 he hosted a forum on "The Power of Creativity and Culture in the Chicago Region" at the Lookingglass Theatre in the Pumping Station at Water Tower Place.
From left to right: Rachel Kraft, Executive Director of Lookingglass Theatre; Rita Athas, Executive Director of World Business Chicago; Dr. Thomas Tirpak, Innovation Champion at Motorola; Tom Tresser.

Here are my opening remarks:

Good morning and thanks for attending Leadership Greater Chicago’s first program on creativity and culture. We’re going to look at how creativity and culture affect the Chicago region and its economy. We’ve got three great speakers for you and a creative environment in which to hear them.

Before we start I’d like to offer a few ideas to keep in the back – or front – of your mind…
Creativity and culture operates in a few distinct dimensions – it’s a heritage thing, it’s an economy thing and it’s a personal transformation thing…

Point #1 – Heritage – Would you believe that the establishment of this country was a daring act of design and innovation?

John Adams said this in an 1815 letter to Thomas Jefferson: "The War was no part of the Revolution...It was only an effect and consequence of it. The Revolution was in the minds of the people, and this was effected...years before a drop of blood was drawn at Lexington." America is truly a “work in progress” – a march of democratic creativity where more is possible, more is dreamed and more is done. In this marketplace of ideas, we are only supposed to care about what is in your heart and head and not about your pedigree or parentage (or who you sleep with or what you had for breakfast). That’s why 38 million who were not born here are in America right now. Creativity = opportunity = innovation = prosperity.

Which leads to Point #2 – Economic Prosperity. The Creative Economy is a major part of the U.S. and regional economic picture. Nationally, the core copyright industries in 2005 generated $1.4 trillion. That’s bigger than the chemical and related industries. Bigger than the motor vehicle and parts industries. Bigger than the aircraft and associated equipment industries. Bigger than the medicinal and pharmaceutical products industries.

According to Richard Florida, Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute and Professor of Business and Creativity at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, there are over 38 million people in America who make their living from their creative work, this group represents about 30% of the labor force, but they account for 49% of wages earned.

In Illinois, in 2006 some 1.7 million people worked full time in what Florida has identified as creativity-related employment. That’s 30% of total employment. According to the Metro Chicago Information Center, that picture is similar for Chicago – where 1.3 million of those 1.7 million people are located.

But the presence or absence of creative people is much more than a head count.
There is such a thing as the Council on Competiveness in Washington, D.C. They’ve been working on a massive policy project for over four years – the National Innovation Initiative – and their report, “Innovate America” is pretty definitive. Their tagline for the entire project is “Innovate or abdicate” The CEO’s of 11 major U.S. companies and 8 research universities put their names to it and stated on the first page of this report: "RESOLVED...Innovation will be the single most important factor in determining America's success through the 21st century."

Pretty dramatic. Sounds like life or death.

Now to Point #3 – Creativity and personal development, which actually forms a feedback loop and circles back to Points #1 and #2.

How do we create an environment where every person can invent, create and contribute to their fullest potential?

Albert Einstein knew something about creativity and innovation. Have you heard one of his most repeated quotes? "Imagination is more important than knowledge." What could he have meant by that? He certainly knew a lot. But the scientist and theorist who turned physics upside down and inside out imagined much, much more...

This celebrated quote comes from an interview Einstein did for the Saturday Evening Post, October 26, 1929. He said,

"If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music...I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge in limited. Imagination encircles the world."

My friends – my fellow Chicago leaders - Listen to Albert. Dream big dreams. Imagination comes before the great breakthroughs.

Imagination comes before the next cure of an "incurable" disease. Imagination comes before the next “killer ap” that will have us waiting in line at the Apple store. Imagination comes before the next beautiful song that will make you weep or make you dance. Imagination is America’s number one energy source. It has been since the founding. It is inexhaustible and forever renewable. But we can waste it and we can ignore out. Our job – it seems to me – is to expand, accelerate, levitate and celebrate Chicago’s imaginative resources.

Here is Tom Tirpak's presentation:

Tirpak Lgc Presentation

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own.

Whose Values Count?

2008-10-29T11:29:00.001-05:00

Election eve thought on the role of artists in public life...

There's a lot of talk in the press about "value" and "values." Value in the sense of "what is something worth" in economic terms and "whose values guides the politics and policies that decide what something is worth?" It seems that the financial and general press is learning something that we knew all along - that not everything with a big price tag is"worth" a lot of money and things that seemingly have no value on the stock market really do have tremendous value and meaning. What drives creative people to create and what is the "value" of what they create is worthy of study here. Lewis Hyde wrote "The Gift - Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World" in 1979 and he was on to something when quotes Joseph Conrad - "The artist appeals to that part of our being...which is a gift and not an acquisition - and, therefore, more permanently enduring." and then goes on to say "The art that matters to us - which moves the heart, or revives the soul, or delights the senses, or offers courage for living, however we choose to describe the experience - that work is received by us as a gift is received....The spirit of an artist's gifts can wake our own. The work appeals, as Joseph Conrad says, to a part of our being which is itself a gift and not an acquisition." This resonates with arts marketing studies by large foundations and hard-working consultants who endeavor to guide the arts industry in making a stronger case for itself with the public and politicians. These studies discount the economic impact of the arts and revive a conversation about the intrinsic value of the arts and creativity that, while hard to measure, is the real distinctive power of the creative process. But the market place says we only measure what matters and that Wall Street experts and Blackberry punching M.B.A.s RALLY know how to assign value in this society. How's that been working? But this conversation about who gets to value what is a prelude to my real concern around "values" - namely that people who live and practice the creation and exchange of intrinsic value, America's artists and cultural workers, have been absent from the political discourse and so have been unable to transfer their values into governance. So if we are cringing that taxpayers will spend $750 billion to bail out Wall Street firms, banks and potentially General Motors. If we are livid if taxpayers spend $123 billion to bail out AIG and then it spent $440,000 on a lavish executive retreat. And if we just shrug our shoulders when we see that the National Endowment for the Arts is budgeted for a pathetic $145 million for 2008. (Don't even mention the estimated $3 trillion cost of the Iraq War). If these facts - these expressions of what America "values" don't jive with yours, then, “The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars, but in ourselves if we are underlings.”

Vote Like Your Life Depends On It

2008-10-26T13:43:00.002-05:00

Tom's Book "America Needs You!" Hot Off The Press!

2008-10-08T17:02:00.002-05:00

I've been working on this project since 1990! The book, "America Needs You! Why You Should Become a Creativity Champion," lays out the argument for creativity as a national value and why I think artists and creative professionals would make excellent local leaders. Buy the printed book for only $10.49 (plus shipping). OR YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE TEXT FOR FREE!

"Creatives as Leaders" Workshop @ Allianbce for Artists Communities Conference

2008-10-01T16:55:00.000-05:00

At the 2008 conference of the Alliance of Artists Communities in Seattle....

Creatives as Civic Leaders

Led by Thomas Tresser, consultant, producer, educator, and trainer on creativity and civic engagement, this workshop will explore the connection between one’s private or professional role as a creative or generative person and a civic identity and civic responsibility.

This workshop is open to the public. Artists, arts administrators, cultural leaders, and others are welcome to attend.

Saturday, November 15, 2008
9:00 - 10:30 am

Henry Art Gallery
University of Washington
15th Avenue NE and NE 41st Street
Seattle

Workshop fee: $30 - Click to register.

Watch Tom's Mini-Presentations on iTunes U!

2008-07-17T21:11:00.002-05:00

I'm teaching a new class for DePaul University's Distance Education Program - "Creative Tools for Social Change." As part of the material we made five short videos, including "Our Creative Heritage," "Introduction to the Creative Economy," and "Introduction to Community Organizing." You can view them here - and you don't even have to register for the class (iTunes software required)!

Join the New Creativity Champions Community

2008-07-16T09:50:00.002-05:00

Join the new "Creativity Champions" Community at ning.com - the home of "do-it-yourself" social networks.

View my page on Creativity Champions

Tom Presented "Creatives As Leaders" at 2008 Performing Arts Convention

2008-06-16T07:03:00.001-05:00

Over 3,000 leaders from America's performing arts community gathered in Denver last week for the 2008 National Performing Arts Convention. Chorus America, Dance/USA, Early Music America, the League of American Orchestras, OPERA America and the Theatre Communications Group are the principle conveners. I presented a workshop that lays out the argument for creativity as a national value and makes the case that artists, cultural workers and creative professionals have values and skills desperately needed in public life. View the presentation using the viewer from Slideshare.net. Email me at to@tresser.com if you'd like a copy of the presentation.

Here's what one attendee said: "I attended Tom's seminar "Creatives as Leaders" at the National Performing Arts Convention in Denver. He perfectly articulated what I have suspected for years now--that artists, creatives have a unique ability to influence public policy if only we would stand up to be counted! I have seen this in action and it was a breath of fresh air to hear Tom say it publicly. The next day I attended another meeting of the 50+ people from our group that attended the conference together. At least one person stood up and said that as a direct result of Tom's seminar, she planned to run for local office in the next five years. One can think of no higher praise for Tom's work than that!" - Laura Murphy, Adjunct Instructor, Adams State College Art Department & VP, Monte Arts Council, Monte Vista, Colorado

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Tom Helps to Keep Lincoln Park Public

2008-05-01T15:35:00.000-05:00

Tom has been active with a group of neighbors from the Lincoln Park community in Chicago who have been fighting the privatization of the treasured lake front jewel. We formed a grassroots group, Protect Our Parks, and sued the Chicago Park District and the Latin School of Chicago to stop them from building an artificial turf soccer facility in the heart of Lincoln Park that would've been for the exclusive use of this very wealthy private school. We sued and won. Now we're working to roll back the illegal construction and return the field to an open grass meadow. We have seen citizens groups in a number of states rise up to stop the privatization of their local parks. Judges in New York City have blocked two separate projects, one on Randall's Island involving a consortium of 20 private schools building private soccer fields and one involving the installation of an upscale restaurant into Union Park.

How Do the Arts Build Communities?

2008-03-27T21:23:00.004-05:00

I visited a class on arts and social change at Roosevelt University taught by visual artist, Maggie Leininger. I gave this presentation about my work for Peoples Housing, where I organized a community arts program that combined culture, training and micro-enterprise.

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"The Artist as Leader" at Links Hall

2008-03-21T18:23:00.002-05:00

Join Tom and the folks from the Stockyard Institute for an interactive workshop at Links Hall on Monday, April 7- "The Artist As Leader - A Workshop for Community, Political, and Social Change Agents."

We'll show you why we think artists, cultural workers and creative professionals have what it takes to lead in the public sector. We'll combine presentation and group creative work.

Are You A Creativity Champion?

2008-03-15T08:15:00.005-05:00

Does your work, politics or lifestyle cause to study, celebrate, defend, or accelerate creativity? Then you're a creativity champion - and we' love for you to:

(1) Join the LinkedIn "Creativity Champions" Group.

(2) Stop by the "Creativity Champions" blog and introduce yourself.

Tom to Offer Workshops at Columbia College Leadership Week

2008-03-01T06:45:00.000-06:00

Tom will be creating and facilitating four workshops for the 2008 Leadership Week at Columbia College. Here's the run down:

“Building an Effective Student Organization (that lasts longer than the current academic year)”

This workshop will lay out the fundamentals for building an effective campus organization that will outlast your own participation. Think of it as establishing a new nonprofit organization. Most of the elements that make a nonprofit successful can be applied to your student organization. We’ll look at mission, recruiting, leadership, communication, recruitment, programming and sustainability.

“The Artist as Leader (Yes, You!)”

Did you ever think of yourself as a leader? Would you believe that the very same values and skills that brought you to Columbia College might make you an excellent leader in the public arena? This workshop will lay out the argument for creativity as a national value, as a basis for a new winning politics and – therefore – as the basis for a new definition of leadership.

“Creative Tools for Social Change”

Hip Hop and voter registration. Media hacking and globalization. Street theater and commercialization. Increasingly activists are turning to creative techniques to effect social change. The line between impactful social protest and creative work is becoming blurred. This workshop will introduce you to the work of a group of creative change agents called the Interventionists. Come and meet the Yes Men, Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping, the Billionaires for Bush and the Guerilla Girls!

“Basics of Community Organizing for Artists”

Did you notice the word “Change” plastered all over the place at Columbia? Did you know Chicago is one of the global capitals of community organizing? Community organizing is where citizens band together in the face of powerful opposition to create real change for themselves in their neighborhoods. This workshop will introduce you to the proud tradition of Chicago-style Direct Action Organizing and the work of Saul Alinsky and his successors. We’ll take a special look at how artists can participate in this powerful democratic civic work.

Tom's Class Produces "Instant Exhibit"

2007-12-07T09:00:00.000-06:00

My class at the School of the Art Institute, "The Art of Crossing the Street - The Artist as Citizen," produced a one-day exhibit at the Betty Rymer Gallery on Thursday, December 6. The exhibit invited spectators to become artists by marking and decorating boxes arranged in a cityscape. At the end of the exhibit people were invited to take the artwork home, any many did!

Tresser.com Opens Creativity Champion Bookstore

2007-11-01T15:05:00.000-05:00

Check out the new Creativity Champion Bookstore at Amazon.com!

Tom Interviewed in F Magazine

2007-10-31T15:17:00.001-05:00

The November issue of F Magazine, the student newspaper of the School of the Art Institute, is devoted to "Politics & Art" and features an interview with Tom, "The Artist as Citizen." Download PDF copy.

Join Tom Oct 30 - "Artists as Leaders"

2007-10-30T13:28:00.000-05:00

The Center for Teaching Excellence at Columbia College and the Chicago Teaching Artists Collective present..

The Politics of Creativity - Artists and Educators as Leaders

When: 7:00 p.m. on Tues., Oct. 30 Where: C33 Space, Columbuia College, 33 E. Congress, first floor

This event will be free and open to the public. Please RSVP to dgodston@sbcglobal.net.

Do you believe that creativity is a national value? Should creativity be a principle to guide progressive public policy and civic engagement? Do artists and other cultural workers have any special set of values, skills or experience that might make them excellent leaders in the public sector? Do creative professionals have any special civic obligations as citizen-creators? Join us for an evening of conversation around the issues of creativity, power and leadership. The session will be kicked off by Tom Tresser, a long-time cultural activist and educator. If you'd like to read an essay on the subject, go to www.tresser.com/manifesto.html.

Joining Tom will be Susan Eleuterio and Allison Spicer to exchange views. An open dialogue session follows. The event will take place on Tuesday, October 30, from 7:00pm to 9:00pm at the C33 Space (33. E. Congress).The Center for Teaching Excellence supports the continuing efforts of all Columbia faculty members to become more informed, confident, creative, and reflective practitioners of the art of teaching, thereby enhancing the quality of learning for a diverse community of students. Online at http://www.colum.edu/CTE/About/index.php.

The Chicago Teaching Artists Collective is a volunteer-based network of artists from all disciplines working together to build the field of the artist as teacher on local, national, and global levels. The CTAC is equally interested in the material as well as the aesthetic concerns of teaching artists; and living a functional lifestyle as well as pursuing the pedagogical, philosophical, spiritual, and social implications of our work. web site: http://chicagoteachingartist.typepad.com/collective

About the Presenters:

Susan Eleuterio is a folklorist, writer and educator and a volunteer workshop leader for the Neighborhood Writing Alliance. She is an active member of Chicagi Code Pink and NW Indiana Code Pink, which uses theater and other creative arts to organize for peace and other civic engagement.

Allison Spicer is an artist educator. Her research involves evaluation of art organizations, ethics of art non-profits, and the use of art education to build social capital. She worked in the development field for four years, gaining fundraising experience for when she opens her own art education studio. Allison has taught visual arts classes for youth at The British School of Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art-Chicago, Ralph J. Bunche Elementary School-Detroit, and Marwen Foundation-Chicago and served as the Coordinator of Studio Programs at Marwen Foundation in Chicago. Her website is http://amspicer.blogspot.com.

Tom Tresser is a consultant, producer, educator and trainer who can help individuals, companies and communities leverage and amplify their creative assets in order to make meaning, solve problems, create economic value and trigger civic engagement. To find out more about Tom, visit www.tresser.com.

Tom Hosts "Innovate Like Edison" Book Launch

2007-10-29T13:29:00.000-05:00

At the Catalyst Ranch on Monday, October 29, I was master of Ceremonies at the book launch for Sarah Miller Caldicott, the co-author of "Innovate Like Edison - The Success System of America's Greatest Inventor."

Sarah is Edison's great-grand niece and she has had extensive access to Edison materials to write this fantastic guide book to one of America's greatest innovators. It could be said that Edison invented the modern world. Sarah gave a great presentation and showed us how he did it and how we can unleash our own inner Edison.

Read about the book is USA Today at http://www.usatoday.com/money/books/2007-10-28-innovate-like-edison_N.htm

Read Tom's Story on BP Indiana Tax Breaks

2007-10-02T16:23:00.000-05:00

How would you feel if your property tax bill skyrocketed 1,200%? Then how would you feel knowing that four major corporations, including BP, got hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks that triggered the increase? That's what happened to thousands of homeowners in northwest Indiana. Read my report in the October 2007 issue of Conscious Choice. Download PDF copy.

"Art of Crossing the Street" goes on a mural tour

2007-09-28T18:03:00.000-05:00

The class I teach at the School of the Art Institute, "The Art of Crossing the Street - the Artist as Citizen" got on an old-fashioned yellow school bus to visit several neighborhoods to view a number of well-known community murals. The tour was led by artist and educator, Kiela Smith, a member of the Chicago Public Art Group. We visited sites in Bridgeport, Bronzeville and Navy Pier. Below is a slide show of some of the work we saw...

Tom Teaches at School of the Art Institute

2007-09-02T14:27:00.000-05:00

"The Art of Crossing the Street" was started at the School of the Art Institute in 1997 to give students new ways to think about creativity and the role of the artist to society. I've been given the privilege of teaching it for the Fall of 2007. For our first class, Prof. Vince Michael the chair of the Department of Historic Preservation at the School, led the class on a El tour of the Loop!