Professional Interview
Cherie Ramsdell is a Master of the Arts and an assistant professor of graphic design. We asked her these questions about creativity and what it meant to her, as well as addressed our themes in some of the questions.
1) What does creativity mean to her?
-She views creativity as problem solving, in a lot of ways. And that artistic creativity is creating a vision as a way to communicate so people understand.
2) What type of personality traits make up creative people?
-They should be open minded, willing to learn about different things, broad-based, experimental, also need to be disciplined, and have an analytical mind (need to make order out of chaos.)
3) Does she ever use objects for an art project that would not normally be used to make it?
-Yes, She uses horse hair burned into pottery. It depends on how versed you are in the art world on what you consider to be normal. It depends on your perspective.
-She used the example: If you have a flat tire in the middle of nowhere and do not have the right tools, you will need to come up with a solution.
4) Has she ever taught someone who was going to use an object for a different function other than its purpose and you thought that it was strange?
-No, not at all. You’re always adapting and looking for alternatives. You don’t reinvent the wheel; you just make the wheel better.
5) Has she ever taught someone with a mental illness? How did they do with creativity?
-Yes, I’m sure I have. Depression, schizophrenia, bipolar, ADHD.
-It depends on the mental illness. Certain activities or designs agitate a person and restricts their creativity.
6) Does she think mental illness, such as depression, enhances creativity in an artist?
-It depends on the severity and type of depression. Albert Dior (artist during the renaissance time), melancholy artist because of personality traits. Sometimes when depressed, you’re not functioning properly.
7) Does being creative and art help a person solve problems?
- Absolutely. Being an artist is all about problem solving. How do you communicate? How do you make this art better? Figuring things out. It’s not very linear.
8) Has she had any constraints on a task that would make it harder to solve problems?
- Absolutely. She gave the example that when she’s teaching design, she always gives constraints to have them escape the box on their own. Her students are in “boxes” and in order to get out, they have to come up with their own ideas or twist their ideas around the constraint to make it all come together, so that they can escape. It’s about different visions because there’s more ways to look at something. It’s all about perspective.
9) Does she think creative people are generally more intelligent than non-creative people? Is there a link to creativity from intelligence? How important is creativity in interpreting a person’s intelligence?
- Yes. She feels that creative people are more intelligent, but would not say that only creative people are artists. She used the example of Einstein, saying he was creative, but not an artist.
- The stereotype of a creative person is that they are not very intelligent. More scatter brained, less organized, less successful monetarily.
10) Does she have any thoughts or revelations regarding creativity?
-Promote the art department, but not just the department, the way of thinking. Absolutely everything you do is about communication. Everything you touch every day is created by an artist or a designer.
- She would like to see more people in the Masters of the Fine Arts than in Masters of Business Administration.
1) What does creativity mean to her?
-She views creativity as problem solving, in a lot of ways. And that artistic creativity is creating a vision as a way to communicate so people understand.
2) What type of personality traits make up creative people?
-They should be open minded, willing to learn about different things, broad-based, experimental, also need to be disciplined, and have an analytical mind (need to make order out of chaos.)
3) Does she ever use objects for an art project that would not normally be used to make it?
-Yes, She uses horse hair burned into pottery. It depends on how versed you are in the art world on what you consider to be normal. It depends on your perspective.
-She used the example: If you have a flat tire in the middle of nowhere and do not have the right tools, you will need to come up with a solution.
4) Has she ever taught someone who was going to use an object for a different function other than its purpose and you thought that it was strange?
-No, not at all. You’re always adapting and looking for alternatives. You don’t reinvent the wheel; you just make the wheel better.
5) Has she ever taught someone with a mental illness? How did they do with creativity?
-Yes, I’m sure I have. Depression, schizophrenia, bipolar, ADHD.
-It depends on the mental illness. Certain activities or designs agitate a person and restricts their creativity.
6) Does she think mental illness, such as depression, enhances creativity in an artist?
-It depends on the severity and type of depression. Albert Dior (artist during the renaissance time), melancholy artist because of personality traits. Sometimes when depressed, you’re not functioning properly.
7) Does being creative and art help a person solve problems?
- Absolutely. Being an artist is all about problem solving. How do you communicate? How do you make this art better? Figuring things out. It’s not very linear.
8) Has she had any constraints on a task that would make it harder to solve problems?
- Absolutely. She gave the example that when she’s teaching design, she always gives constraints to have them escape the box on their own. Her students are in “boxes” and in order to get out, they have to come up with their own ideas or twist their ideas around the constraint to make it all come together, so that they can escape. It’s about different visions because there’s more ways to look at something. It’s all about perspective.
9) Does she think creative people are generally more intelligent than non-creative people? Is there a link to creativity from intelligence? How important is creativity in interpreting a person’s intelligence?
- Yes. She feels that creative people are more intelligent, but would not say that only creative people are artists. She used the example of Einstein, saying he was creative, but not an artist.
- The stereotype of a creative person is that they are not very intelligent. More scatter brained, less organized, less successful monetarily.
10) Does she have any thoughts or revelations regarding creativity?
-Promote the art department, but not just the department, the way of thinking. Absolutely everything you do is about communication. Everything you touch every day is created by an artist or a designer.
- She would like to see more people in the Masters of the Fine Arts than in Masters of Business Administration.