NOCCA Faculty Member Nikki Jackson Leads A Five-Week Class To Help You Achieve Your Creative Goals

NOCCA Faculty Member Nikki Jackson Leads A Five-Week Class To Help You Achieve Your Creative Goals

Join NOCCA faculty member, acclaimed ceramicist, and Surdna Foundation fellow Nikki Jackson for a very special five-week class on achieving your creative goals:

CREATIVITY COACHING
Wednesday nights at NOCCA (2800 Chartres Street, New Orleans)
Five weeks, beginning September 24, 2014
Cost: $250 * Enrollment limited
CLICK HERE TO APPLY NOW

Do you have great, creative ideas but never the time to see them through? Do you want to regain the creative drive that you had when you were younger? Do you want to become a more creative thinker to improve your company and enhance your career?

If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, consider joining Nikki Jackson for CREATIVITY COACHING, a five-week class designed to nurture your creative impulses and foster the habits of mind that can help bring them to fruition.

STRUCTURE
CREATIVITY COACHING is designed to be simple in outline and powerful in effect. It addresses the habits of mind and the attitude towards challenges that underpin our ability to create work that’s rich, meaningful, and an expression of individual voice.

Before the class officially begins, each participant will complete a questionnaire to help create clear expectations. Under Nikki’s guidance, participants will also look at possible goals and current challenges to chart a path forwards.

Each week, participants will meet with Nikki for a group “Mastermind” class. Here, participants will celebrate one-another’s achievements, (including the ones that seem tiny but add up to significant progress over time), offer support, and hold each other accountable. Each person gets to draw on the collective wisdom of the group and Nikki’s many years of experience in helping people understand and navigate past the issues that get in the way of creative work. Each participant will commit to a personal plan of action for the week ahead, including clear and specific steps – and a schedule for working on them.

At the end of each week, everyone will complete a “Reflection” questionnaire. Nikki will evaluate these to celebrate, assess, and adjust the coming week’s work.

ENROLLMENT
Interested participants can apply for the CREATIVITY COACHING class by filling out this brief questionnaire. Enrollment is limited to a maximum of ten participants, and Nikki will use responses to the questionnaire to identify candidates who are the best possible fit for the class. Those candidates will receive an email indicating that they’ve been accepted to the program and providing a link to the class registration page.

Enrollment is offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Weekly classes will be held at NOCCA on Wednesday nights, beginning September 24. The cost for the five-week class is $250.

FROM NIKKI
“I believe the foundation of all creative work, including inspired leadership, is the practice of inspired questioning.  New answers come from a new question being asked, or the re-framing of an old question to create a new perspective. This is the cornerstone of NOCCA’s practice across disciplines, and I love sharing the experience with the participants in this CREATIVITY COACHING class. Questioning, exploring, and discovering (ie. learning) are the most fun things to do in the whole world. Our meetings will be full of all those things, along with laughter, surprise, and delight.

“Class participants are invited to step into a place of vulnerability and not-knowing – a place that asks us to be willing to explore ‘imperfect action’ as a way of generating solutions. I will (gently) point out and challenge assumptions, draw attention to narrow definitions where a broader one might serve better, and create opportunities for dialogue. I will offer specific techniques to navigate around the negative internal voice we all have, (the one that forms a major block to creative thought and growth), and share examples of neuroscience research that provides context as we explore  the art of re-framing and true brainstorming.

“It takes time for new habits to form, but it is possible for a profound creative shift to happen in a single moment. Neither of these things can happen unless we commit to ourselves and agree to face the challenges with integrity and courage. My experience tells me it also requires generous amounts of laughter and joy. This class is the opportunity you’ve been looking for if you know your life and work will be easier and more compelling when joined with the power of a group of like-minded creative thinkers. It’s a meeting place for those who understand the importance of connection as a source of support and accountability, and who are willing to take a bigger role in creating their future.”

ABOUT NIKKI
Nikki Jackson was born and raised in England. Her father worked in the great London museums in South Kensington, giving her unparalleled exposure to the history of world art. She studied at Bath Academy of Art and Bath College of Higher Education, before being awarded a scholarship to study with Paul Soldner in California.

She taught in California, Alabama, and New Orleans before joining the faculty at NOCCA in 1999. She has been a recipient of a prestigious Gane Travel Scholarship and Surdna Foundation Fellowship. Her work has been exhibited nationally and in Europe and is held in private collections around the world. She has conducted workshops across the country, including The Exploratorium in San Francisco and The Mendocino Arts Center, Mendocino.

One comment

  1. Linda Monroe

    Hi Nikki- I should very much like to take your course ( which begins this evening) and shall fill in the application for your next one . Thank you so much for remembering me and sending me the info and the chance to apply. Linda Monroe

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