The #CreativeSparks phase of MadeAtUni showcases the contribution of UK universities to the nation’s creative industries and future economic success. We’ve spoken to Principals about the far-reaching benefits of the creative and performing arts.
We asked Professor Penny Macbeth,Director of the Glasgow School of Art, about the skills and attributes that a degree in the creative arts equips graduates with.
The idiosyncratic skill sets of creative arts graduates are more important today than ever before.
Globally we face a complex range of societal issues and challenges. To address these we require adaptable problem-solvers, unafraid to ask or confront difficult and sometimes uncomfortable questions and importantly, with the natural ability to collaborate and work across disciplines. As Apple’s late CEO Steve Jobs said, “technology alone is not enough — it’s technology married with arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the results that make our heart sing.”
In the creative arts we are makers, innovators, artists, producers and expansive thinkers. We challenge conventions and can move with great agility between the physical and digital realms. We give shape and form to ideas and concepts that don’t yet exist, produce work that inspires people to see the world around them differently, create and design interventions, solutions and places that transform lives.
And with the UK creative industries employing over 2.1 million people and a further 3 million working in creative roles in non-creative organisations, the demand for highly creative and innovative graduates is more apparent than ever before.