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Ross McClain, chair of the Department of Art.<\/p><\/div>\n
Their answer: majoring in business, communication studies, politics and international affairs or another discipline outside the Department of Art. To these students, focusing on art didn\u2019t seem practical.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are amazing, just incredible students,\u201d said McClain. \u201cThey have the spirit, the grit, the curiosity that makes a Furman student who they are.\u201d But somewhere around middle school, they were \u201ccompletely talked out of art\u201d and as a result, the notion that they\u2019re creative, he said.<\/p>\n
Put another way \u2013 Our idea of a \u201ccreative person\u201d needs an update.<\/p>\n
The artist in Times Square drawing realistic likenesses for $5? It\u2019s impressive from a technical standpoint. But it\u2019s neither the norm nor the future, according to McClain, chair of Furman\u2019s art department.<\/p>\n
So what is, exactly?<\/p>\n
The rewards of creativity<\/strong><\/p>\n In his Cothran Lecture Series talk, McClain identified 10 laws or characteristics \u2013 such as empathy, vulnerability and embracing failure \u2013 that he believes can help reveal and develop creativity in everyone, starting with college students.<\/p>\n Those points are central to an article he co-authored with Charles Davis, a Baylor accounting professor and Furman\u2019s first gentleman, and Anthony Herrera, executive director of Furman Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The piece has been named the winner of Institute of Management Accountants\u2019 Lybrand Gold Medal for the best article of the year published in Strategic Finance and Management Accounting Quarterly. The article,\u00a0\u201c<\/a>Developing<\/a> Creative Accountants,\u201d<\/a> details the 10 characteristics of creativity and how to develop them, no matter your vocation. The article appeared in the April 2021 issue of the IMA\u2019s peer-reviewed journal, Strategic Finance.<\/p>\n Charles E. Davis, Furman first gentleman and professor of accounting at Baylor University.<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cAs we have all seen over the past year, people have had to be more creative than ever in their approach to their work. Surveys of business leaders reveal that creativity increases in employee productivity and happiness, fosters innovation and leads to improved corporate financial performance,\u201d said Davis, who is also an adjunct professor at Furman. \u201cThis article helps accounting and finance professionals, whom most people don\u2019t think of as creative types, understand 10 characteristics of creativity and how those characteristics can be developed to improve job performance.\u201d<\/p>\n According to IMA, the awards \u201crecognize individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the profession through articles published in\u00a0Strategic Finance\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Management Accounting Quarterly\u00a0<\/em>from May 2020 through April 2021.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s fitting that such thinking would come out of Furman.<\/p>\n \u201cThe paper is a great example of cross-disciplinary collaboration \u2013 art, accounting, innovation and entrepreneurship \u2013\u00a0that is the foundation of a liberal arts and sciences education,\u201d said Davis.<\/p>\n Anthony Herrera, Furman Innovation and Entrepreneurship executive director.<\/p><\/div>\n \u2018<\/strong>Your whole self\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Part of revisiting the idea of creativity means Furman art professors are reflecting on what it is that students want.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s time for us to put our egos aside and acknowledge the fact students are not coming to the university to be like us, and they\u2019re not coming here to draw better or study art primarily,\u201d said McClain. \u201cThey\u2019re coming here to have all of Furman, the prestige, the one-on-one collaborations, to study away \u2013 The Furman Advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n He pointed to one example at Furman\u2019s Department of Art: Art students don\u2019t have to take three drawing classes. They take one. It allows them to double major in something else. If they\u2019d like to go further in art professionally, the department has various ways to propel them, whether through additional studio and art history classes\u00a0or a Master of Arts in Strategic Design<\/a> at Furman.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/news.furman.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/20180814_CharlesDavis-21.jpg\")
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