What can today’s creatives learn from yesterday’s avant-garde?

As emerging technologies continue to reshape creative practice, many designers, writers, marketers, strategists, and artists find themselves navigating new questions about process, originality, and idea generation. In this talk and workshop, the founders ofWoods Creative explore how the groundbreaking approaches of the Futurists, Dadaists, and Surrealists remain surprisingly relevant to creative work today.

Through a mix of historical context, contemporary application, and hands-on experimentation, participants will discover how century-old techniques for generating ideas can still help break through creative blocks, spark new thinking, and inspire fresh approaches to problem-solving.

The program includes both a presentation and an interactive workshop, where attendees will practice analog creative exercises drawn from these influential movements and leave with tangible artifacts and techniques they can use long after the event.

Whether you're a designer, copywriter, researcher, marketer, curator, student, or simply curious about the creative process, this session offers a chance to reconnect with the origins of creative experimentation and explore how those lessons can inform the future. Lunch will be provided.

Part ofAIGA Maine Design Fest ‘26: Curiosity.

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