“Peace of mind comes to me through making things with my hands. An added bonus comes if my efforts inspire others to try the creative process.” 

-Ira Blount, 2009

Meet Washington, DC artist Ira Blount. Be inspired by Ira Blount's work. Respond to his call for creativity: Make something!

Creativity brought comfort to Washington, DC artist Ira Blount. He hoped others might also find solace in the creative process. He even crafted his artist's statement into a piece of art that can be shared with others.

Ira Blount tried many different forms of art, including wood carving, quilting, calligraphy, basketry, origami, paper cutting, tin punching, beading, and leathercraft. His artistic quest gave him personal satisfaction, but it also connected him with other artists, including the Basket Bunch, a group of basket makers in Prince Georges County, Maryland, and the Daughters of Dorcas and Sons, a quilting guild in Anacostia, a neighborhood in southeast Washington, D.C.  It also linked him to traditions around the world, such as origami, the Japanese art of paper folding.

This Learning Lab offers:

• ideas for making art, including links to instructions for making origami cranes, beaded bracelets, and twined baskets
• links to additional prompts to facilitate, in the artist's words, trying the creative process
• discussion questions for "Creative Conversations," including
  • How can the process of creating lead to "peace of mind?" 
  • How can creativity connect us with others, in our communities and beyond? 
  • How can it reconnect us with nature and with ourselves?

Very young children can look, with their families and caregivers, for animals and colors in Ira Blount's artwork. 

School-age children can look for the letters in the two alphabet samplers.

Keywords: Anacostia Community Museum, ACM, African, American, Ira, Blount, artist, creativity, Washington, DC, United States, basket, basketry, calligraphy, wood carving, beadwork, beading, crosstitch, sampler, origami, quilt, quilting, paper cutting, tin punching, Frederick D. Gregroy, Frederick Gregory, astronaut, NASA, Elaine Kilbourne, #ACMTeach, #MuseumFromHome