About UsCreative Ways is a collaborative endeavor between Benny Ferdman and Shari Davis. Since 1984 we have worked together, and partnered with others, to produce exhibitions, curricula, public art and educational programs that creatively explore history, culture and identity, and build connections across communities. Bringing decades of educational leadership and interdisciplinary program development, Shari and Benny work with organizations and businesses as consultants and facilitators to help teams actualize new educational and creative projects.
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What we do:
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Community & Public Art for public spaces and community events.
Educational Curricula Design, both digital and hands-on, for organizations, schools, museums. Group Facilitation, leading community conversations to build connections across differences. Training for Educators, encompassing culture, creativity and the art of inspired teaching. Museum Consulting, including curating, design of school tour programs, pre and post exhibit kits, writing of exhibit educational guides. |
Exhibit Production, interpretive design, exhibit fabrication, writing text and exhibit guides. Interactive, Hands-on Exhibit Components to complement permanent or temporary shows in more traditional museum settings. Traveling Exhibitions which explore the intersection of art and cultural traditions.
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BIOS
Ferdman and Davis currently live in Los Angeles and are co-founders and directors of Creative Ways, an organization that creates public art, exhibitions, multi-media installations, interdisciplinary arts programming and educational curricula nationally and across the globe. They care also co-founder/directors of Camp Wildcraft--an art and nature summer camp in Los Angeles whose mission is to "grow curious, creative, confident and caring kids who feel at home in nature." www.campwildcraft.com
Shari Davis Bio:
Shari Davis is an educator, consultant and facilitator of learning experiences that strengthen deeper connections within communities. As co-founder of the organization Creative Ways, she has worked for over three decades developing educational programs, curriculum & exhibitions which explore the intersections of culture, nature, history and identity. For over eleven years, Shari was on staff at the LA Jewish Federation where she held positions as Director of Education, Director of the Focus on Teen Wellness and Manager of Curriculum and Teacher Training. Shari teaches classes in Health and Wellness, Social Emotional Learning and Building Resilience, and consults with organizations on building community through dialogue and the arts. She is a certified trainer in Appreciative Inquiry: a strengths-based approach to organizational change.
Benny Ferdman Bio:
As a collector of materials and stories from our human, natural and cultural landscape, artist Benny Ferdman reinterprets images and tales to reclaim wonder in everyday life. His paintings, sculptures, poetry and installations are animated by a mix of folkloric and natural forms, ancient text, the past, the present, time and transformation. His art often draws on themes of heritage, spirituality, and the human connection to nature, interpreting these sources and ideas through contemporary art practices. Ferdman’s work incorporates painting, drawing, assemblage and mixed media. Woven throughout is a great reverence for the natural world and an increasingly urgent message around collective ecological responsibility.
Ferdman and Davis currently live in Los Angeles and are co-founders and directors of Creative Ways, an organization that creates public art, exhibitions, multi-media installations, interdisciplinary arts programming and educational curricula nationally and across the globe. They care also co-founder/directors of Camp Wildcraft--an art and nature summer camp in Los Angeles whose mission is to "grow curious, creative, confident and caring kids who feel at home in nature." www.campwildcraft.com
Shari Davis Bio:
Shari Davis is an educator, consultant and facilitator of learning experiences that strengthen deeper connections within communities. As co-founder of the organization Creative Ways, she has worked for over three decades developing educational programs, curriculum & exhibitions which explore the intersections of culture, nature, history and identity. For over eleven years, Shari was on staff at the LA Jewish Federation where she held positions as Director of Education, Director of the Focus on Teen Wellness and Manager of Curriculum and Teacher Training. Shari teaches classes in Health and Wellness, Social Emotional Learning and Building Resilience, and consults with organizations on building community through dialogue and the arts. She is a certified trainer in Appreciative Inquiry: a strengths-based approach to organizational change.
Benny Ferdman Bio:
As a collector of materials and stories from our human, natural and cultural landscape, artist Benny Ferdman reinterprets images and tales to reclaim wonder in everyday life. His paintings, sculptures, poetry and installations are animated by a mix of folkloric and natural forms, ancient text, the past, the present, time and transformation. His art often draws on themes of heritage, spirituality, and the human connection to nature, interpreting these sources and ideas through contemporary art practices. Ferdman’s work incorporates painting, drawing, assemblage and mixed media. Woven throughout is a great reverence for the natural world and an increasingly urgent message around collective ecological responsibility.