The Artistic Edge is a blog, a book and a place to find arts and leadership resources.

The blog came first and was born out of a desire to discuss how experiences in the arts can influence a child’s development of crucial leadership skills and ultimately their success when they become an adult.  I realized that in my own life, it is because of my extensive background in the performing arts that I have the skills I need to communicate with an audience in a confident manner. But, when I started to think about this more in depth, I wondered what other skills I had gained through my arts experiences that have helped me get to where I am today. I believe that there is a common misconception that only a few people are talented enough in the arts to have successful careers, so others should not bother. But, I would like to explore the idea that we all benefit from engaging in the arts, no matter where our career paths lead us. In fact, I believe that all the leadership skills young people need to have successful lives as adults can be gained from participation in the arts.

After a year of writing and reading research, and then more writing, I released The Artistic Edge: 7 Skills Children Need to Succeed in an Increasingly Right Brain World. The release of the book has motivated me to expand The Artistic Edge to include resources for educators and parents to help them develop key leadership skills in the children they are educating by cultivating an artistic edge. There is much more to youth development than we realize and there is more we can do to prepare our children for the realities of life after school. So many young adults are graduating from university or college and they moving back home unable to find employment. I believe there are two skills that are underdeveloped in a large majority of young people: Creativity and Leadership. When we develop these skills in our children their future career and life success increases tremendously!

To discuss the ideas on The Artistic Edge, please join our Linkedin Group, The Arts Leadership Education Network!

I hope you enjoy The Artistic Edge. Your thoughts and comments are welcome!

Artistically yours,

Lisa Phillips