I recently discovered Painting with John. It is available HBOMax. It follows John Lurie painting and talking about his life.

In Season 1, episode 1, Lurie says that Bob Ross was wrong. Not everyone can paint. He describes young children as the best painters and then something happens and it gets “pounded out of you.” Lurie explains how his parents nurtured and protected creativity.

Sir Ken Robinson’s TED Talk that argues that it is schools that kill creativity. What Lurie’s perspective added for me was the idea of needed to protect the innate creativity in all young students. So much of the conversation has been about fostering and nurturing creativity in the classroom.

The idea of protecting creativity adds another layer to the conversation. It affirms that creativity is innate in everyone. But, it makes me wonder can an institution such as schooling that is credited with killing or pounding out creativity, also protect it?