A blog by Nick Owen, CEO of TMC

In February 2002, Donald Rumsfeld, the then US Secretary of State for Defence, stated at a Defence Department briefing:

‘There are known knowns. There are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we now know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we do not know we don’t know.’

Whilst his words became a source of satire for some time after, little did any of us expect to be living our daily lives with so many unknown unknowns shaping what we do, how we work and how we relate with each other.  Covid-19  has injected the concept of ‘unknown unknowns’ with unimaginable levels of ambiguity, confusion and uncertainty into all aspects of our lives.  We’re all living with the Big Unknowns right now and that can be scary.

However, one thing we do know here at The Mighty Creatives is that our fight for the creative voices of children and young people continues apace, often in deafening and confusing circumstances.

We’re reminded on a daily basis too that the work of teachers, artists, leaders, support staff, schools and cultural organisations across the East Midlands continues to be humbling and inspirational.

In amongst all this un-knowing-ness and uncertainty, we want you to know that we’re here for you in the weeks and months to come.

We don’t want to bombard you with knowledge, information and advice, as we expect that you’re already receiving far more than is comfortable at the moment: but if you are looking, we can provide knowledge and practical skills on:

• Creativity in the classroom and at home
• CPD on arts, culture and creativity for school staff
• Online safeguarding
• Online cultural and schools networks
• Young People’s Creative Voice
• Pupil and student engagement

We have a wealth of materials, content and connections which could help and support your challenge of turning your unknown ‘unknowns’ into your known ‘knowns’.

If you would like to know more about us then please register here and we’ll make sure you get regular updates about how we’re leading the way for cultural education in the East Midlands: but if there is something specific you would like to know  and discuss with us, please feel free to contact me via email.