Closing Plenary: A New Look at the Art of Seeing

Thursday, 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm

Betty Edwards, California State University, Long Beach

In modern life, we are inundated by ever-growing quantities of data. The trend toward computer-graphic displays of complex data seems to indicate a new area of common ground for verbal, analytic and visual, perceptual modes of thinking. As computers take over more and more "left brain" tasks, educators are beginning to recognize the need for training the visual mode of thinking as well as the verbal, analytic mode -- the traditional "3Rs" of schooling. Compared with what we are capable of seeing, perceiving, and envisioning, what we actually see is doubtless very limited. By cultivating perceptual skills, we can perhaps increase our ability to derive meaning from complex verbal and numerical information and to accomplish creative leaps of insight. Additionally, researchers interested in a recently developing field, the aesthetics of leadership, are calling for new look at how we train individuals for leadership positions.

Betty Edwards is the Director of the Center for the Educational Applications of Brain Hemisphere Research, California State University, Long Beach, California. She is Professor Emeritus in Art, California State University, Long Beach, California. As well as conducting research, Dr. Edwards consults widely in industry. Dr. Edwards has been a painter, medical illustrator, high school art teacher and professor. She is the author of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, (Tarcher/Putnam) in print since 1979, and Drawing on the Artist Within (Simon and Schuster).

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