Channeling Your Creativity
One local lady spends a lot of her time teaching Cincinnati women to find their artistic passion. Read on for more about why her work is so important to the ladies she teaches.

Christy Carr Schellhas, instructor of "Broadminded: Bringing Creativity to Life"

Christy Carr Schellhas is many things -- a designer, an associate professor at the Art Academy of Cincinnati and most importantly to those not naturally in touch with their creative sides, an instructor of the creative process.

Schellhas started "Broadminded: Bringing Creativity to Life" workshops in 2009 during a yearlong sabbatical from her associate professorship. Taking this leave from her academic job allowed her to really focus on her own creations, but something was missing, she says. "I enjoyed having my increased level of creativity, but I was missing that creative connection with people," Schellhas says. "I started reaching out to women primarily, and I said, 'Hey, do you want to take a workshop and explore your own creativity?'"

The answer from many women was a resounding "yes." Schellhas found that many women were too preoccupied with the culmination of artistic efforts -- there wasn't enough focus on the steps taken to get there. "People confuse creativity with talent," she says. "People would get really excited about the class, but they would say, 'Oh, I'm not creative.' One of the things I really work on with my clients is to let them see that they are creative people."

Thus, the broadminded class is really about helping give women the confidence and courage to take risks that come with the creative process, Schellhas says. "I encourage and support them in finding what they want to do and helping them seek that out. If they were interested in singing or voice, we'd talk about the ways you could do that in your daily life. Maybe it's going up to their choir in their church or finding a community organization," she says.

Above all else, though, being in a creative frame of mind allows people to engage with their surroundings. "The really important thing is, I truly believe that a routine connection with creativity and being creative in your daily life leads to a more fulfilled and happy life," Schellhas says. "In our lifestyles, we get away from that. Creativity gives us an opportunity to be present in the everyday."

Moving forward, Schellhas would like to offer other workshops with different, specific focuses (like creativity courses for expectant mothers, for example) and house these classes in a designated studio. "My goal is to eventually have a place where people can go, and pop in and take a class in the way they would with a yoga class," Schellhas says. "If someone were feeling off-center, he or she could go in and take a class to regain centeredness."

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