Grand Rapids is home to one of the newest chapters of
CreativeMornings, a lecture series for the creative community that started in New York City in 2008. There are over 80 cities throughout the world with a chapter, and the CreativeMorning site hosts over 1,200 talks and videos.
The formation of the local chapter was spearheaded by Julia Jamieson, a designer at Atomic Object. "I applied for the Grand Rapids Chapter about two years ago because previously I had lived in Chicago, (which) has a very active chapter," she says. "After I saw that in Chicago, and moved here, I started to see all the amazing work people are doing and felt the CreativeMornings would add value to the community in Grand Rapids."
Jamieson says the application process took longer than expected, as the national organization was concerned that Grand Rapids might not have a large enough population to support a monthly lecture event for creatives.
Determined to get a local chapter established, Jamieson worked with AIGA West Michigan and planned and executed seven events that were called the Early Shift over the course of a year. "After that, we were awarded the chapter," Jamieson says.
"I wanted to bring CreativeMornings here because it is programming that I feel can bring different parts of the creative community together," Jamieson says. "It provides an avenue for people to come together once a month for an hour and half to learn about the great work others in the community are doing. Anyone is welcome."
The next event for Grand Rapids CreativeMornings is July 25 at the coLab and features Chuck Saylor, founder of izzydesign.
You can learn more about the Grand Rapids Chapter
here, the
local event here, and the national organization
here.
Writer: John Rumery, Innovation and Jobs News Editor
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