arts & business council

MetLife Foundation National Arts Forums Series

Denver Office of Cultural Affairs
Denver, Colorado

Design thinking: Tools for Innovation
02/28/2007

Presentation by Charlie Girsch and Maria Girsch, Phn.D, Creativity Central

This forum attempted to foster an innovative and creative approach to the changes taking place in Denver. The Colorado Business Committee on the Arts, The Downtown Denver Partnership, Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, Gates Foundation, Bonfils-Stanton Foundation, Western States Arts Federation, Denver University, PlatteForum, and Downtown Aurora Visual Arts represent a list of organizations that are promoting the impact of creativity. The goals of these organizations are to change the perception of Denver to the Creative Capital of the West, to make it attractive for idea incubation and business relocation.

Collaboration has been key to building synergy around this movement, and investment by local foundations has helped to underscore the importance of this focus. As an example, the opening of the new wing at the Denver Art Museum became an opportunity for many organizations to design programming, including a "Best of Colorado" art exhibit mounted by the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs at the Denver International Airport. It has been a six-month celebration of innovative architecture and collaborative programming. These same organizations worked together during the re-authorization of Denver's local tax which supports scientific and cultural facilities to pass the tax and assure their future funding. The campaign was impressive in its breadth and vigor. 

Lack of collaboration leads to lack of support, as demonstrated in the Civic Center Park project. Recently the Civic Center Conservancy Board contracted with Daniel Libeskind at great cost (with no input or awareness from the general public) for a new design for Civic Center Park, but the plan was not well received. The real criticism of the park plan and design process provided an opportunity for this forum to model a different approach. In a hands-on exercise, Charlie and Maria Girsch led forum participants in an exercise in “Inventive Thinking” to design icons for Denver’s Civic Center Park. They encouraged everyone to change their point of view, be outrageous, defer judgment, piggy back, fish with a net (brainstorm as many ideas as possible), develop a creative mantra (such as what if, what else, why not?).

After the forum, participants presented their icon designs to the Conservancy board members together with information on the process, to take back to the design team in charge of planning the renovation of the park. One board member of the Civic Center Conservancy remarked that they should have contacted this group in the first place and said they were thankful for having the information and would use it in future planning.

Hopefully, creative exercises like those modeled in the forum will help people remember the benefit and joy of working together to achieve the goal of making Denver attractive for idea incubation and business relocation and a true creative capital.