Creative Museums, Creative Communities

Museums are uniquely positioned to help members of the public—children and adults—nurture their creativity by providing the raw material that feeds curiosity, by switching people’s brains—and their motivation to use them—from subsistence level to overdrive, and by modeling active engagement—with one’s environment, with other people, with knowledge, and with ideas. Indeed, as we have argued elsewhere in this book, stimulating creativity could be one of the most valuable public services museums provide in twenty-first-century society. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has identified thinking creatively, working creatively with others, and implementing innovations as critical skills to prepare students for future life and work, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services here in the United States has adopted the Partnership’s framework and developed initiatives based on it. ¹ Meanwhile, the 2010 IBM Global CEO Study interviewed 1,500 CEOs from sixty countries, and these CEOs identified creativity as the most important quality for both business leaders and entire organizations. ² In the twenty-first century, creativity is no longer optional; it is essential.