Day 4 started off with an inspiring talk from Bryan Bell, the founder of Design Corps. Bryan describes himself as a “design advocate,” helping bring architectural services to under represented populations, such as migrant workers.

The day continued with the teachers working hard on their Design for Necessity projects. Teachers are looking to find design solutions to big problems mapped during Day 3. Projects will be presented on Day 5 to a panel of professional artists and designers for critique.

Today is “ hump day” for the SDI. We worked to sustain energy through play, conversation, reflection, and sharing as we began to apply new concepts to the classroom and teaching. Wendy Friedmeyer, James Johansen, and Kim Robledo-Diga kept us on track.

As we toured the exhibition Worlds Away: New Suburban Landscapes, we applied Design Thinking to our conversation about the suburbs. What stereotypes do we hold about the suburbs? What are the challenges faced in the suburbs? What systems in suburban culture can be addressed through art and design?

The first assignment from John Comazzi and Scott Christensen – NO TALKING!

This short design challenges really focused on “ thinking through building.” We learned first hand about “ failing early in order to succeed”.

Teachers quietly work on their tower constructions.

The themes and ideas imbedded in the Design for the Other 90% exhibition offered a jump start to thinking about the “ other 90%” of our own communities and provided the basis for the final design challenge: Designing for Necessity. John Comazzi and Scott Christensen moderate the concept mapping in the picture above.

Sandy Speicher from IDEO works with teachers on design as a process for learning. She states: “Design thinking is the way we approach the world when we imagine and create new solutions for the future.”

“Build to think” and “Fail early to succeed sooner”- teachers make prototype models out of found materials to solve design problems related to the morning commute.

Teachers tour the exhibit Design for the Other 90%

Designer Tom Oliphant explains the critique process to teachers by defining it as, “a conversation about the efforts of work.” He brought some of his students along to discuss how it felt to have their work critiqued.

Today was the first day of a week-long summer institute for K-12 teachers focused on design-based learning organized by the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. The CHNDM originated the Design for the Other 90% exhibition currently on view in the Sculpture Garden. Their amazing education department offered to take their Summer Design Institute on the road to Minneapolis while the show is here and we were excited for the opportunity to share this nationally recognized program with Twin Cities teachers.

Twenty-seven teachers were selected to attend. Most are in teams of two teachers from a school; the majority are from the Twin Cities, with one team from south Texas and one from Oregon. They teach art, science, language arts, special ed, French, math, and industrial technology. The goal for this week is to introduce a new way of teaching based on the ways that designers think and work. Our plan is to blog about the highlights each day and share some pictures of the SDI in action.

Day 1 began with our lively group of teachers sharing their goals for attending. My personal favorites were the several who mentioned they “ want to change the world.” I am always heartened to encounter teachers who are dedicated, visionary, and willing to take time from their summers to learn something new. Meredith Davis, author of Design as a Catalyst for Learning and Professor in the Department of Graphic Design at North Carolina State University, provided big-picture insights into design thinking and processes. After lunch Ellen Lupton, Curator of Contemporary Design and CHNDM walked us through a lively history of the design of everyday things from dishwashers to telephones to can openers. She also challenged us to get hands-on and create a new use for an ordinary bag.

The energy was high, the laughter was infectious, and we are off to a great week!

-Susan Rotile and Lindsay Stern

Meredith Davis talks about Design based learning.

Ellen Lupton leads an activity with the teachers to redesign bags.

Teachers show off their creations.

Teachers break into groups to share new ideas from the day’s activities.

Cupcakes are a beautiful thing. And a cupcake is even better when it comes as a complete surprise. When Julie* first brought Joe and Mary to a Arty Pants Daniel was just around the corner. When Daniel was ready to leave the house he started coming to Arty Pants as well.

Today was Daniel’s 1st birthday, as well as Julie’s, and I can hardly believe how fast he’s grown. I remember the tiny baby nestled in blankets, hidden from the cold. Now he’s crawling around during the story times and pulling himself up on couches. It has been wonderful to watch him grow. For the birthday celebration they came to Arty Pants followed by a picnic in the Sculpture Garden, that included some cupcakes baked by the family. I got a little misty-eyed when Joe told me they had baked an extra cupcake for me. I even got my choice of color frosting. So Happy Birthday Julie and Daniel! Thanks to Julie, Joe, Mary, Daniel, and Fluffy Cat for making my job an utter joy!

*The names of the individuals and stuffed animal dicussed in this post have been changed.