vcad

Every designer or artist wants to be able to make a living from their work, and this week’s guest embodies that desire. Generally, Kamar Thomas splits his time between being a design educator at two institutions — Centennial College and VCAD — but outside the classroom, he’s a prolific artist who specializes in vibrant oil paintings filled with deep meaning. He also just finished his first book, The Artist’s Creative Vision, which publishes this winter. Very nice!

Kamar started off talking about his teaching career, which also includes stints in the U.S. and Jamaica, and he talked about getting into art and painting as a kid before attending college at Wesleyan. He also spoke on the themes of the Black figure, masks, and abstraction in his work, his first gallery show this year, and what he ultimately wants to convey in his paintings. For Kamar, you can make art from wherever, and also have a great career!

Links

• Kamar Thomas’ Website
• Kamar Thomas on Instagram
• Kamar Thomas on Twitter
• The Artist’s Creative Vision

For extended show notes, including a full transcript of this interview, visit revisionpath.com.

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Credits

Revision Path is brought to you by Lunch, a multidisciplinary creative studio in Atlanta, GA.

It is produced by Maurice Cherry and engineered and edited by RJ Basilio. Our intro voiceover is by Music Man Dre, with intro and outro music by Yellow Speaker. Transcripts provided by Brevity & Wit.

Thank you for listening!

Creative productivity is largely a question of volume. The more ideas you can generate and test, the more likely you are to come up with one that is truly novel and useful. 

Brainstorming, or “ideation” if you want to sound hip, is a familiar technique for generating creative ideas. My experience with brainstorming, however, has been disappointing. I don’t think most practitioners use the concept effectively. The point of brainstorming is to generate ideas, not to solve problems. It is merely one step in the full creative process. The brainstorming technique described in this podcast, however, is quite effective. It does a good job of collecting ideas from a group and winnowing them down to a manageable few that can be pursued. 

The Idea/Concept Ladder is a technique that enables you to amplify the number of ideas generated through brainstorming.  Every good idea in a specific expression of a larger concept. Every concept holds potential for generating multiple ideas. Find the concept behind a good idea and you can generate a rash of alternative ideas and expand your realm of possibilities. 

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MINDRAMP’s Creative Cycle (described in an earlier podcast) suggests that the full creative process has four major phases, Imagination, Idea Generation, Implementation and Evaluation. You start by imagining some kind of new condition that will make things better. Then you produce ideas about how to make that condition come into being.

 The purpose of idea generation is to produce a wealth of good ideas that can be implemented, tested and then evaluated. So first you generate as many ideas as possible. Then you select one of them to implement, test and evaluate. 

The idea-selection technique offered in this podcast is relatively simple and straight-forward. Use this approach if you get bogged down with too many good options and need something to break the log jam.  

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You need to assess virtual capabilities before you can effectively move into the world of virtual communications. 

First, you need to assess your own capabilities. Identify what virtual equipment you have and know how to use. Then, you have to assess the virtual capability of the people in remote locations that you want to communicate with. Identify their virtual capabilities. What equipment do they have? Do they know how to use the equipment? Are they comfortable doing so. 

Familiarize yourself with the types of virtual communication tools that are available. 

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Use your assessment of the virtual communication capabilities of your staff and of your audience to identify gaps.  Identify and prioritize the knowledge and skills that are critical for your staff. Identify the skills needed by your audience to get everyone up to speed on, at least, basic levels of virtual communication.  Then, develop specific plans to undertake the required learning.  

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There are basically two approaches you can take to create virtual activities for the older adults you serve. You can begin with existing activities and figure out how to deliver the same activity but using virtual communication mechanisms. Or, you can start fresh. You can reconceptualize the activities to suit the unique characteristics of the virtual communications mechanisms you have available to you. This episode discusses both approaches. 

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Over the years MINDRAMP has experimented with a number of virtual delivery approaches. In addition to live classes and presentations, we have reached out to audiences using print, eBooks, radio, webinars and podcasts. In this podcast, we discuss how the VCAD Project makes use of a variety of virtual communication mediums. The next few podcasts will share what we have learned from other virtual projects.  

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Zoom has become increasingly popular and well known since the start of the C-19 stay-at-home orders went into place. It provides audio and video links between people and will display the images of the host and the guests on the screen. So, multiple people can simulate a live meeting or get-together using their virtual technology. 

MINDRAMP has made extensive use of Zoom’s virtual meeting capability to deliver classes and presentations to venues around the country. The presentations feature Roger and Michael zooming in from different locations on the west coast. Zoom allows the host to share whatever is on his or her computer screen, so it is possible to show images, charts, graphics and – most important for us – full PowerPoint presentations. 

Support our work to promote creative aging. Subscribe to the MINDRAMP Podcast.

Zoom has become increasingly popular and well known since the start of the C-19 stay-at-home orders went into place. It provides audio and video links between people and will display the images of the host and the guests on the screen. So, multiple people can simulate a live meeting or get-together using their virtual technology.  

MINDRAMP has made extensive use of Zoom’s virtual meeting capability to deliver classes and presentations to venues around the country. The presentations feature Roger and Michael zooming in from different locations on the west coast. Zoom allows the host to share whatever is on his or her computer screen, so it is possible to show images, charts, graphics and – most important for us – full PowerPoint presentations. 

Support our work to promote creative aging. Subscribe to the MINDRAMP Podcast.

Roger Anunsen (co-founder of MINDRAMP) recently invented a virtual activity for Senior Living Communities called The Mystery Dish. It uses in-room food service to conduct an engaging guessing game about food that can involve everyone in the community. The idea is now being tested, in association with Executive Chef Darin Leonardson, in a number of communities. 

The Mystery Dish reminded Roger of two other food-based activities he invented as part of his research validated activity program called MemAerobics. All of these food-based ideas promote sensory acuity, mindfulness and fun.  

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The Virtual Activity Design Program is based on MINDRAMP’s first-in-the-nation college course and textbook called Cognitive Activity Design. A major part of the text and course materials consists of descriptions and analyses of wonderful cognitively stimulating activities Roger designed for an Assisted Living Facility.  

The rest of the podcasts in this section feature Roger describing a number of the most memorable and instructive activities. These case studies are then followed by analyses of the elements that made them effective in promoting brain health and mental engagement. 

These case studies do not use virtual communications mechanisms but offer a number of core principles that help enrich any kind of activity (live or virtual).  

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Art Fiskitjohn was grumpy and withdrawn until Roger casually mentioned to him that Marge claimed she could beat him in a scooter race.  Learn how a community became energized around a drag race between three older residents of an Assisted Living Facility. 

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Roger Anunsen’s most effective programs started with a focus on the specific needs of a single individual and then expanded to engage and involve a much broader community. 

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The Drag Race was a complex activity with many moving parts. But, activities don’t have to be complex to be successful. Often the simplest of activities can have a profound effect on participants.  

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One of MINDRAMP’s guiding principles is that effective interventions for multi-factorial conditions - like premature aging and dementia - require multi-factorial interventions. Decline, disease and debility are caused by multiple factors. Each one of the factors must be addressed, in combination, to have a significant impact on the health of your brain and the wellbeing of your mind. (See the episode on The CogWheels of Brain Health).

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