Donna Crocker told us that for forty years Art Sherwyn has devoted himself to liberating the mind through the appreciation and practice of visual art. As a high-school teacher, Art has received numerous state and National awards, and was a finalist for the prestigious American Disney Teacher Award. Sherwyn has been invited to speak at local, state, and national conferences for arts, education and leadership and, in 2015, was a guest speaker at Harvard. His career as a motivational speaker, artist, author, and authority on artful liv- ing has helped motivate people to reach for their full potential, combining storytelling, artis- tic demonstration, and interactive activities. His audiences laugh, cry, and leave with a new set of skills and improvements as an artist, leader, and human being.
Art explained that he was thrown into art despite knowing little about it. After college, he accepted a job as a basketball coach. Once he accepted, he was told he would need to also teach art. He made up lessons and was really nice to the kids. He realized that “nice kicks butt on knowledge”. He always took time to compliment his students even if their art was not great.
Art told us that we are all a chemistry experiment. Over the years, the container changes but we all have the ability to change ourselves into the best piece of art.
There are two kinds of people, accord- ing to Art: technical on the right and creative on the left. The most technical person shows little emotion while the most creative person can’t stay on track...is all over the place. Those who are just to the left of center usually have the ability to make others feel 10 feet tall.
Some of Art’s words of wisdom: Tact is the ability to tell someone off and they don’t know it. The greatest leaders take no victims. The greatest victories have no losers. The sciences make life possible. The arts make life enjoyable.
Art spoke on topics of leadership and artful living. He believes “everyone is an artist; some are just better than others.” As promised, he “defined the qualities of an artful lead- er and individual, taking us on a journey towards being your best self.”
Thank you Art for a fun and informative presentation.