About the speaker
When Brent Dixon was a kid, he wanted to be a tractor. That didn't work out, and so he's a designer, musician, and educator living in Austin, TX.
Brent believes curiosity, empathy, and play can change the world. In 2013 Brent organized hands-on art, design, and technology workshops with kids at Travis Heights Elementary School, Dell Children's Hospital, TEDxYouth@Austin, Dallas Makerspace, SXSWEdu, Brooklyn's Alpha One Labs, and NYU's Tisch School of Arts. These workshops are designed to help children open new doors to creative inquiry and exploration.
Brent also runs The Habdash, a creative consultancy, and is Vice-Chair of The Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive, a network that empowers students to create ethically-sourced, cooperatively-run food enterprises on college campuses. He was a 2012 Teaching Fellow at Singularity University and mentored 80 students from 36 countries on using disruptive technology to address global challenges. In 2010 Brent founded the The Cooperative Trust, a grassroots network of hundreds of young people fighting for the future of socially responsible finance.
Last year Brent recorded and released "Cradle to Cradle," a five-song collection available for your ears on iTunes and Spotify.
Most recently, he launched the Austin Hacklebox, a collection of materials and tools available for educators to freely borrow and use to organize their own hands-on workshops with kids.
Brent is currently a Master of Fine Arts design candidate at the University of Texas.
Favorite quotes from this talk See all
There was no such thing as a creative person. There was no such thing as an artistic person. There was no such thing as a technology person or whatever person. You were just a person.
Just sit down and play with it for a while and then see what happens.
There’s a freedom to improvise without worrying about getting it wrong. There’s a freedom to imagine without constraints. And there’s a freedom to dive in and love the uncertainty of all of this.
There’s a freedom to connect without the fear of being embarrassed. There’s a freedom to improvise without worrying about getting it wrong. There’s a freedom to imagine without constraints. And there’s a freedom to dive in and love the uncertainty of all of this.
Photos from this talk See all
Hosted by
Thinkery
1830 Simond Ave.
Austin, Texas United States 78723
Date
Partners
Real HQ
Texas Coffee Traders
IBM Design
Videographer Paul Raila
Photographer Jennifer Rustgi
