Artistic license

On Johnny's first day at school, the teacher said they were going to draw flowers. "Great," thought Johnny, "I know how to do that." And he hurried to get his crayons and start.

"Wait," said the teacher. "I haven't told you to begin or how to draw a flower. This is how to draw a flower: with five red petals and three green leaves. Now start." And Johnny drew a flower just like everyone else.

Then Johnny went to another school, and the teacher said, "Today we are going to make a vase."

"Good," thought Johnny, "I know how to work with clay."

"This is how we will make the vase," said the teacher. "It will have a round body and one hole at the top." And so, that is how Johnny made his vase. But he thought, "I could make a better vase. I could have lots of openings to put in lots of flowers."

Then Johnny went to his last school. "Today," said the teacher, "we will draw flowers." So, Johnny waited. "Why aren't you drawing?" asked the teacher. "You haven't told us to begin or what kind of flowers to draw," said Johnny. "Oh, you can draw any kind of flowers you want," said the teacher.

So, Johnny began to draw. And he drew a flower with five red petals and three green leaves.

Michael Ballam tells this story to point out how creativity gets stifled. As a professor at Utah State University who has taught more than 5,000 students in the arts, he knows that it has happened over and over again.

"Remember 'Dante's Inferno'?" he asked the audience at BYU's recent Family Expo, where he was a keynote speaker talking about the creative process. Remember how Dante took a tour of Hades, and all the people he found there? Well, says Ballam, there's another group that should be consigned to the Inferno: any teacher, any parent, any adult who has ever told a child he or she can't sing. Or can't draw. Or can't act. Or can't do any number of things in the arts.

"Anyone can sing," says Ballam, who has had a distinguished career as an opera singer. "It's a matter of learning. You have to learn about breathing, about coordination and musculature. It takes time, and you may stumble. But if you are told that you can't sing and are always placed on the back row, how often will you try again?"

It's like learning to walk, he says. "What if the first time you tried to walk, someone said, 'You can't do that,' and you never tried again. It's the same with music."