Creativity and artistry often get pushed to the back of our minds as we go through life. Most of us remember being artistic in some way as a child – making Play-Doh sculptures, coloring outside the lines or constructing musical instruments. After childhood, however, creativity is less promoted each year as other matters take precedent, such as athletic achievement and good grades.
Creativity is often forgotten, and often people don’t consider creativity to be an important skill in the business world.
The Arts and Business Alliance of Eugene is here to remind us that creativity is an inherent part of any successful organization. The non-profit’s goal is to encourage community liveliness by emphasizing the collaboration between the arts and business sectors. Through bringing the arts and business together, they hope to drive economic expansion as well as inspire creativity and innovation throughout Eugene.
The ABAE has been working very hard this summer preparing for and putting on the Create! Eugene festival. The month-long celebration of the arts includes 31 days of workshops, exhibits and performances for people of all ages and abilities.
Over 100 workshops have been going on during the month of August including classes in photography, dance, culinary arts and more. Eugene gives life to many different art forms due to the large number of artists in the community.
Cenya Eichengreen has been enjoying the art of bead embroidery for the past five years, and now shares her talent with others by teaching monthly workshops at Harlequin Beads & Jewelry.
“I love our community and being amongst other artists, they’re so inspirational. It is so exciting to see what everyone else is doing and we just kind of feed off of each other,” Eichengreen said.
The Create! festival takes advantage of Eugene’s natural beauty with the Plein Air Paint Out Competition. The competition takes place in the heart of Downtown Eugene at Kesey Square with painters from all over the region painting outdoor landscapes or cityscapes from within Lane County.
Patti McNutt, a Plein Air Painters of Lane County member, has been a full-time painter for the last eight years. She does not often enter her work in contests, but loves painting in this competition because it is all outdoors.
“We have all this beautiful land out here with so many places to hike and I love painting it all. I just love being outside and painting outside,” McNutt said.
Creativity can come from anywhere in life, taking shape in many different forms. You are the only person holding yourself back from a life full of originality. Demonstrating creativity does not necessarily mean having to invent something, but it can be expressed in developing new perspectives or influencing the way someone else sees something. As we mature into adults and become serious about setting up the rest of our lives, spontaneity, adventurism, playfulness and curiosity shouldn’t be forgotten.