The Balvenie said it will debut a new digital series exploring the convergence of craft and creativity, hosted by Questlove, a bestselling author, cultural icon and scholar of creativity.
Quest for Craft centers around four of the most creative minds, legendary GRAMMY Award winning music producer Jimmy Jam, SNL comedian Michael Che, punk-rock icon Patti Smith, and prolific author Malcolm Gladwell, as Questlove opens conversational passageways to their creative processes, inspirations and aspirations over four compelling episodes. Here’s the progrm line-up:
- Episode 1, Craft and Chaos with Michael Che – Questlove and Michael Che chat about how to infuse purposeful levels of chaos into their careers, how it can push you to a new level of creativity and how it can be a key factor in honing your craft.
- Episode 2, Craft and Community with Jimmy Jam – Questlove and Jimmy Jam connect on meeting their core creative partners at a young age, and chat about how instrumental their creative communities have been in helping them become the artists they are today.
- Episode 3, Craft and Time with Patti Smith – Questlove and Patti Smith delve into the topic of time as Patti reflects upon her time with Electric Lady Studios, from attending the opening party to going on to record many of her albums at the legendary studio.
- Episode 4, Craft and Practice with Malcolm Gladwell – Questlove and Malcolm Gladwell cover the topic of practice and Malcolm shares the true meaning of his 10,000 hours theory, how it’s been misunderstood in the past and how getting better at your craft can involve going beyond your mastery to take on new challenges.
In addition to the program, Balvenie is sponsoring a scholarship program with the University of the Arts, Philadelphia. The scholarship program will give one aspiring creative mind, from anywhere in the United States, the opportunity to undertake the university’s ‘first-of-its-kind’ PhD in Creativity.
The Balvenie Fellow in the PhD in Creativity will be fully funded in the three-year program that begins in June of 2022. Apart from the intensive two week summer immersion and a return visit for a long weekend in the winter of the first year, all course work will be completed via remote learning. The winning candidate will be selected by Questlove, in partnership with The Balvenie and the University of the Arts. The scholarship program is open to anyone over the age of 21 from now through November 15th, 2021. Visit https://www.uarts.edu/academics/phd-program for more details.
