Teaching Artist David Novak brings science and wonder to ISC’s Kids Institute
ISC bridges education to storytelling through Kids Institute
The students who attended this year’s Kids Institute at the International Storytelling Center knew they’d get to hear from the teaching artist and storyteller, David Novak. What they may not have known is that Novak would also bring along a guest – famed architect and philosopher, Buckminster Fuller — in true storytelling fashion.
Donning thick, black 1960s-esque glasses, Novak became R. Buckminster Fuller or “Bucky,” the man who invented the geodesic dome, the Dymaxion car and map, along with many other creations. But Novak’s performances, held Nov. 3-7 at the ISC, weren’t just designed to introduce students to Fuller’s accomplishments — it was built to welcome them into the world of science and wonder.
“My overall goal wasn’t to offer an exhausted bio or a list of his achievements,” Novak said. “It was to engender the world view and thinking he became famous for. That’s why I began with his quote about not changing reality by fighting it, but creating something that makes the existing model obsolete. I was trying to link his story and his achievements to this perspective of trying to see the truth of the world.”
The ISC’s Kids Institute brings the Tennessee State Board of Education Academic Standards to regional fifth-graders — at no cost, thanks to private funding — by way of storytelling. For Novak, the Kids Institute also presents storytelling in its original form — as a way to share knowledge.
“In Western civilization, we separated the arts,” Novak said. “We say we study arithmetic and science, but in many cultures, the arts are how you learn something. You don’t learn it in a book. You sing the song, you dance the dance, you draw the picture. This is bringing storytelling back to that.”
For the Asheville-based teaching artist, that means putting on his “Bucky” glasses and telling the story of the man who created the geodesic dome (a few audible “ohs” sprung from the young audience when Novak explained the large, white dome at Disney World’s Epcot is a prime example).
Novak aimed to instill a sense of marvel through the performance. With a small bubble gun in hand, Novak stood at the center of the ISC stage. But before blasting hundreds of tiny, floating bubbles into the air, he challenged students to simply be curious about the bubbles, bringing forth thought-provoking questions.
“My overall goal was to inspire fresh thinking and fresh ways of seeing the world,” Novak said. “I wanted to look at things from a new perspective and engender that sense of wonder.”
In his own life, that same sense of possibility led Novak to theatre, and storytelling with a focus on education.
“I began my studies in theatre,” Novak said. “It was extracurricular in grade school. But it directed my interest in creating drama that is based on the process of creating theatre rather than the product. It’s more about working on the story. We would tell stories and act. That always kept me with one foot in the classroom and involved in strategies for learning and teaching.
Novak’s Kids Institute performance was adapted from D.W. Jacob’s full-length play, “R. Buckminster Fuller: The History (and Mystery) of the Universe.” The play is a one-man autobiographical show, bringing audiences into the life and mind of Fuller.
“What interested me was translating that into more of a familiar format of storytelling,” Novak said. “I enjoyed the challenge of making this fit with the learning experience for the ISC.”
Like Fuller’s scientific quests, Novak’s goal of creating an educational storytelling performance was set far beyond the show brought to the stage. Instead, Fuller’s larger quest in life was one Novak aimed to instill in students.
“I didn’t want it to be all about just the things that he made, the geodesic dome in particular. I wanted to use those things as a launching pad for a sense of wonder and hopefully a call to action: Take a look at the world and find out what needs to be done. Learn what you need to in order to get it done.”