How many learning institutions populate this country with rooms that do not inspire action and imagination, or, most importantly, do not call forth the passion, calling, or gift of the young? To me, this makes no sense. When you go about building a golf course, or an adventure park, you study the best golf courses and adventure parks out there to create your own.
Yet, most of the time in the world of education we settle for the most practical and utilitarian designs—those that often do not take into account the human soul, and our need to see through the brick and mortar of this world to the landscape of the imagination. Creating settings where the imagination can take flight should not just be left to theme parks and studio lots. Rather, finding imaginative ways to engage the young during their formative years should be at the forefront of the heart and mind of every educator.
Finding a Forever Home
We are so very grateful to have been able to utilize spaces like St. James at Sag Bridge to host Tutorial, and Mayslake Peabody Estate. But ultimately, the goal has always been for Riverside to have its own property where, over time, we can create the ideal–the pinnacle–for imaginative learning.
Lest you think that creating such a space is simply an extravagant way to entertain the young, I ask you to consider the notion that there is a mysterious connection between the physical world, the imagination and the human soul. I believe deeply in poetic and imaginative knowledge. It helps the young enter into a realm of learning that is deeper than the sea and more extensive than the whole universe.
There is a connection between place, memory, imagination, and emotion that can both strengthen the imaginative powers and teach one the truth: the physical world or place can be the launching point or gateway for our imagination to see beyond. When we create memorable settings on an imaginative landscape of learning, it is not merely to entertain or delight, though there is nothing wrong with it having this effect, but it is to help develop what some have called a Sacramental Imagination.
Imagining a Riverside Landscape
For starters, picture a space I like to call a creative commons. In the middle there is a large wooden circular table but all along the walls, there are alcoves where the Tutorial boys could break out into moments of solitary creative writing or gather in groups of three or four to discuss their ideas. Shelves of books line each alcove and are curated by genre so that based on the style the boys are trying to imitate, they can quickly grab one for reference and inspiration. There might be desks with calligraphy sets, ink pots, and old paper to pen story ideas, and practice a style of writing that is beautiful, elegant, and hopefully memorable.
The other rooms in the house could each be decorated based on a theme to further inspire creative writing or artistic design. For example, there could be the Green Dragon: a pub room with old wine barrels for tables and walls that are painted dark green and adorned with Tolkien imagery. An English Navy room could have a grand oak table, pirate flags, the flags of Queen Anne, and a wooden helm at a large window overlooking the property. This would be a perfect perch from which to enter into great stories like Treasure Island, Captain, Blood, or Horatio Hornblower. There are plenty more ideas for rooms like this but at the heart, the vision for creative learning spaces must not merely be a thematic one, but an architectural approach that helps the boys enter into a project through the inspiration of place.
Dramatic Vision
Performance is a large part of the Riverside Tutorial and Studio because, like creative writing, we enter into story through acting. So many theaters are either large auditoriums with seats facing the stage, or blackbox-style theaters. Both of these are great in their own right, but I believe there is one that is more uncommon, and yet very beneficial to performance, social interaction, and creative collaboration. One such space that has always inspired me is the theater in the movie White Christmas. In this classic film, there is a large room with a stage and tiered seating in a semicircle of tables and chairs. This provides a lounge atmosphere and permits both social interaction and a focus on the stage. This setup at a Riverside property would allow for a great variety of experiences, from coffeehouse concerts and small dramatic performances, to song and dance variety shows, social gatherings, lectures, and presentations of all sorts.
Musical Notes
Music has always been at the heart of Riverside, probably because I am a musician and songwriter. There are so many ways to approach a musical experience, and the space one plays in can form the atmosphere. There are Irish sessions in a pub, picking parties where bluegrass and old-time musicians play on a front porch, and jazz and blues jams in a nightclub setting, similar to the theater design I proposed. And then there are classical forums where musicians perform the likes of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Handel, Debussy, Brahms, and Schubert in a grand hall with a high vaulted ceiling. There are comfortable chairs, couches, tables laden with drinks and appetizers, and a relaxed though formal ambiance in the room.
Space inspires the musician to play, but it also says loud and clear to the audience what the event is meant to be: an evening of quiet listening, a chance for younger musicians to play along, or a night of dancing and revelry. Space enables the learning and cultural experience one wants to create. This is not only true for music, but for everything.
Gathering Areas
Inspiring places for the adult community are also important. Vision casting is vital for any mission or creative work, and so having several areas to gather large groups must be part of landscape and building design at Riverside. We believe it is the imagination that sees the vision, and a spirit of adventure that launches one along the road of calling and creative work, and so having a central place of gathering where vision casting can occur is part of a great landscape of learning.
The theater space I described earlier would be a great location as a gathering hub, but I am also a big fan of the great hall in Hogwarts Castle in the Harry Potterseries of books. There is nothing more grand than an Oxfordian grand hall with dark wood tables for great feasts, and a raised stage of sorts that overlooks the merry revelers. Old Viking mead halls, like the Golden Hall of the Rohirrim in The Lord of the Rings is also another model for a place of gathering, vision casting, storytelling, and feasting.
Perhaps we could combine in one building the creative commons and the grand hall of gathering and call it the Centaureum, named for the mythical beast who is half man and half horse. (It was the great Centaur Chiron who took a young Jason into the wild to train him in the art of outdoor adventure and the creative life of the intellect and imagination.)
This building would capture literally and figuratively the nature of man who is both physical and spiritual: the lower level would be the grand dining hall of gathering where the body is renewed, and the upper level the place of creative and collaborative work, where the mind, heart, and soul is inspired. Yes, I know it sounds ambitious, but very much attainable, and a great witness to the young how important education truly is.
Sound Education
Since the first year of Riverside we have enjoyed working on recording projects with the lads. I remember one of the first we tried was having them rehearse and then record the best storytelling moments in movie history. We then overlaid the soundtrack, and it was great to see how excited they all were to hear their voices accompanied by music. We have produced music videos, reader’s theater style recordings, post-production sound for films, and old-time radio shows.
In terms of space, it would be great to have a large enough studio space with an adequate board, multiple styles of microphones, available musical instruments, amplifiers, etc. I foresee Riversiders using this space to record music, radio shows, podcasts, audio books, post-production film sound, and reader’s theater.
The sound studio should have a comfortable and inviting lounge area, where small groups can gather to brainstorm ideas, enjoy the fruit of their labors, or learn about how the equipment works and the art of sound production. I find it interesting that this generally is not part of curriculum lists for schools or families, and yet the fruits of sound production surround us wherever we go, from the radio broadcasts and podcasts to music recordings and movies.
Making Space
Over the last fifteen years or so maker spaces have grown in popularity and have provided many outlets for the young to explore the realm of making, building, and inventing.
I remember when Riverside first began I visited several maker spaces in Chicago, and enjoyed the laissez faire, yet entrepreneurial spirit. Working with one’s hands especially in such a digital and virtual age can give a person great satisfaction. What I liked most about these spaces was the tinkering vibe and the spirit of curiosity. The idea that one space could have a multiplicity of building and making projects happening simultaneously, with tools of all sorts available, and mentors guiding the young, or not so young, is brilliant.
Imaginative Sets on Site
To come full circle, the idea of having movie sets on the site of a landscape of learning appeals to me. I realize we are not trying to build a Universal Studios here in Illinois just so kids can feel like they are in Hogwarts or the old west, but I think there are many ways to consider spaces on the property that inspire imaginative play, acting, and writing. The design and building ideas for these sets would also connect with maker space projects.
This doesn’t mean that we have to build lavish movie sets to inspire the young to learn. It is amazing what the simplest of structures can do for the imagination. Picture a variety of ruins situated in a forest. Some are ancient plazas with broken walls, a fountain in the center, and a variety of places to sit. Here could be the place where the boys read aloud the ancient myths of Rome and Greece, or act out scenes from these stories in an amphitheater setting.
There could be a climbing wall in one enclosed corner, or a rope strung across a sand pit in another. The ruins could be the ancient grounds for hero training. It is here where there could be images from myths on the walls, or an area dedicated to The Jungle Book. The connection between climbing walls and rope courses could connect wonderfully to the adventures of Mowgli. It is also a great area to reenact the sword fight between Westley and Inego Montoya in The Princess Bride, or countless other hilarious scenes in that film.
The point is that I have noticed how the Tutorial boys react to something as simple as an old stone bridge while hiking through the woods near Riverside. This could translate into a variety of “found” objects in the woods, or old looking statues of characters from legend, myth, and fairy tales. Imagine walking through a conifer forest and suddenly coming upon a lamppost, or the statue of Tumnus; or a clearing surrounded by Willow trees beside a lagoon, and there in the middle is an ancient statue of Peter Pan.
As I said at the beginning of this article, these types of sets would provide a lot more than fanciful imaginative flights in a forest. There is a mysterious connection between the physical world, the imagination, and the human soul. And an imaginative landscape on a Riverside property would serve to help our youth and our community in general to see beyond the ordinary in the world to the truth of the epic story in which we are all living.
