Creative Studios: tools for expression
At Brightworks, creativity isn’t a subject…it’s a practice.
It’s in the way students approach problems, experiment with materials, and learn to express themselves with clarity and confidence. Our Creative Studios are a cornerstone of this philosophy: a time for each Upper School student to build their portfolio, refine their craft, collaborate with peers, and bring imagination to life in tangible form.
Key to our value of meaningful engagement is giving students the tools to express themselves in new and innovative ways. Through exploration, experimentation, and iteration, they build a repertoire of what works—and what doesn’t—when bringing their ideas to life. This process is at the heart of the Brightworks learning architecture.
In the first half of each term, Upper School students participate in Creative Studios—dedicated spaces for developing deeper skills, using professional-quality tools, and collaborating across classes. These studios invite students to connect around shared interests and creative challenges, while cultivating the focus and craft that turn inspiration into impact.
Past studios have led to experimental animation screenings, ceramics pop-up exhibits, shadow puppet performances, playable video games, and interactive mechanical installations. This fall, students are diving into Kinetic Light Sculpture, Fine Arts, Pinhole Photography, and Coding with BASIC—each one an invitation to explore how ideas can take shape in the world.
In every studio, students learn that creativity exists in the space between structure and freedom and there are so many ways for ideas to become visible.
It’s where they find their voice as makers, collaborators, and thinkers.
It’s not just about essays and presentations (although those are meaningful as well). Sharing your ideas with the world can also happen through documentaries, ceramics, animation, acting, improv, animation, 3-d printing and so much more.
One student transformed these oil paints into a beautiful piece of art, later hung up at Butterlove Bakery on Balboa Ave.