KINGSTON, R.I. – March 23, 2023 – We are all creative beings – whether we are artists, designers, singers or plumbers – even if we don’t realize it. Be it a skill, a mindset, or baked into our DNA, creativity adds color to the world and what we can achieve.
On Saturday, April 1, the University of Rhode Island will present “TEDxURI 2023: The Creative Spark” featuring enlightening stories about the importance of creativity from inspirational voices within the University community and far beyond. The show starts at 1 p.m. in Edwards Hall, 64 Upper College Road, on the Kingston campus. For tickets, go to the event webpage.
Nine presenters from vastly different backgrounds – URI alumni and students, university provost, surgeon, military veteran, scenic artist for “Saturday Night Live” – will share their unique stories about how creativity plays out in their own lives.
The speakers are Pardis Mahdavi, Ph.D., provost and executive vice president at the University of Montana; Jillian Eddy, of Brooklyn, a painter for “SNL”; Jen Mott, Ed.D., an educator, school administrator and circus performer from Cincinnati; Dr. Francois Luks, of Barrington, professor of surgery at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University; Ginay Lopes, an author and spoken word artist from Providence; Carol Pegg, of Saunderstown, an alumna and executive assistant to the vice president of student of affairs at URI; and current URI students Abigail Gordon, of Durham, New Hampshire, a dual major in secondary education and French; Aryana Sadr, an engineering major from Providence; and Jeremy Bergantini, of Ashaway, an Iraqi War Veteran, who is pursuing three majors and two minors.
“Creativity,” says Bergantini, “is important to our everyday life because it’s at the core of human expression. Whether we realize it or not, everyone utilizes creativity in some way. For me, the creative spark is what gets me hungry while satiating my desires and motivations.”
Bergantini is founder of Tapped Foundation, a nonprofit he started after his father suffered a series of strokes in February 2022. Among numerous causes, the organization helps veterans dealing with PTSD, potential homelessness and suicidal thoughts. His talk will focus on how photography helped him find his creative spark and “saved my soul” during his mental and physical recovery from injuries sustained during Operation Iraqi Freedom. “I have more purpose now thanks to it,” he says. “My nonprofit helps me utilize my spark in more challenging ways that could in turn help others.”
For Mott, creativity is a constant part of her dual path as a long-time educator and equally long-time circus performer. She’s always learning new things, meeting new people, trying new things, and traveling the world. “I never want to become stagnant and the creative spark keeps me from doing that,” she says.
Fittingly, her presentation will be on juggling – careers and passions – creating a harmonious balance between the two. “Many people try to keep their worlds separate or inadvertently lose part of themselves as they chase careers and families. My goal is to show we can merge the two in order to bring about fullness in ourselves while lighting the spark in others.”
Eddy, the “SNL” painter, finds creativity a vital skill in her work in art and visual components, a spark that sometimes catches and ignites in something worthwhile.
“I think the biggest roadblock to overcome is the idea that you could be wrong or that your idea will be bad,” she says. “This is a trap because with creativity it isn’t the correctness that matters, it’s the uniqueness of the solution. Any ideas that are shared have potential to become something bigger when you let go of getting it right.”
Eddy, who graduated from URI in 2016 with a bachelor of fine arts degree in theater, is starting her own business, The Scrap Pile, focused on reallocating entertainment industry construction waste to local artists and community building projects. Her presentation, she says, is the story of her life as a “Jill-of-all-trades” — including life with ADHD, the “odd path” that led her to “SNL,” and launching a business.
Along with being a professor of surgery, Luks is pediatric surgeon-in-chief at Hasbro Children’s Hospital, and an illustrator. As a medical student, he drew a daily comic strip that appeared in several newspapers. He moved on to illustrate his research publications and those of colleagues. He now teaches medical illustration to students at Brown and the Rhode Island School of Design.
“To me, creative thinking is what’s exciting: coming up with new ideas can be as satisfying as it is enriching,” he says. “The creative spark is all about solving a puzzle, finding a solution to a problem.”
For Gordon, a first-year URI student, her creativity runs in another direction. Not particularly talented in drawing, photography, knitting or pottery, she had trouble figuring what she would talk about. But then her spark clicked – she’s a writer, a daydreamer. As a child, she loved to create stories from the vivid dreams stirred up by her imagination. But she gave it up in high school – before rediscovering it.
“I realized a large part of my general happiness came from the act of creation, specifically creating stories both in my head and on paper,” she says. “This epiphany – or creative spark – had a major effect on my life and helped me find my inner-happiness again. I want to be a part of this to inspire others to think more deeply about how creativity plays a role in their life and just how important it is.”
Sadr, also a first-year student at URI, likens the creative spark to an “aha moment” when you see ordinary things in a different way and find inspiration to develop a new method to solve problems. Sadr, whose parents immigrated from Iran, will present her talk in words and music to give voice to the girls in Iran who are standing up for their rights. But at the last minute, she had to alter her presentation because of a copyright issue.
“Since creativity and the creative spark is the main theme, I used this opportunity to completely change the format and find a more meaningful way to tell my story,” she says. “After all, these talks are to help us discover new meanings to the moments that we encounter in our lives.”
Lopes, a full-time grant writer for AS220, the non-profit community arts organization in Providence, finds her creative spark in her curiosity — asking questions, learning about people from all over the world and sharing their stories through poetry.
“I’ve always seen people’s stories on their faces,” she says. “I’ve had this knowledge that the person you are looking at has a timeline that brought them to that exact place where you are. And when you look around further, there are more faces with more timelines. People with stories that will die with them, cultures that will die with them. I’ve always had a goal to preserve culture and create empathy and community, to show us that we are all more alike than different.”
Pegg, who will open Saturday afternoon’s presentations with “What is Creativity,” looks at the topic from the perspective of everyday life. A 30-year veteran of theater and dance performances around Rhode Island, along with being a first-time presenter, she is working with TEDxURI as a speaker coach for the second straight year.
“Creativity is essential to your life and I’m not speaking with my artist’s voice,” says Pegg, who holds a bachelor of fine arts degree in theater and a master’s degree in education. “When we have challenges or problems that need solving, we sometimes have to think creatively about how best to solve them.
“People often think they must be artists, painters, actors or musicians,” she ends. “But that isn’t true. Creativity happens organically, lies within each of us, and manifests in many different ways.”
Opening the event, Keith Ranaldi, interim director of entrepreneurship and innovation, will present a video, discuss URI’s Launch Lab, and kick off the College of Business’s 100th anniversary event for World Creativity and Innovation Day on April 21. The event will highlight stories of creativity, innovation, and impact at the College, while also engaging students in the Launch Lab on the use of artificial intelligence as part of creative problem solving.
URI College of Business
The College of Business has been a leader in business education, research and outreach in Rhode Island since being established in 1923 by Howard Edwards, president of the then-Rhode Island State College. Accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, the College today has more than 2,300 undergraduate and about 350 graduate students across 10 undergraduate majors, nine graduate programs and three Ph.D. specializations.
As it turns 100, the College continues to innovate its offerings. New courses that focus on diversity, social entrepreneurship and innovation, and artificial intelligence have been added to the undergraduate curriculum. The College also launches new programs to keep with the times, including the Doctorate of Business Administration for working professionals, and FinTech, an undergraduate program in financial technologies.
What is TEDx?
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED created a program called TEDx. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Our event is called TEDxURI, where x = independently organized TED event. At our TEDxURI event, TED Talks video and live speakers will combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events, including ours, are self-organized.
To view previous TEDxURI talks, click here. Presentations from this year’s TEDxURI will be added after the event.