Awakening Creativity: Dandelion School Blossoms
in bookstores May 17th

Awakening Creativity is the story of Lily Yeh’s inspiring metamorphosis of a run-down factory on the outskirts of Beijing into a vibrant school for children of migrant workers. With over 275 photos and candid narrative, Awakening Creativity details the five-year process of Yeh’s work at the Dandelion School in engaging hundreds of students, teachers, and volunteers in painting, mosaic, and sculpture projects.

>>Watch a video about the project.

As the school’s physical campus is transformed from depressing grey to brilliant color, the project proves to become central to the school’s curriculum, building self-esteem, and inspiring students to take ownership and action in their environment, which ripples out to uplift their entire community.

The Dandelion School project brings Yeh to her native China, where, for the first time, she uses her community-building model to transform a school created specifically for the children of poor migrant workers, who otherwise receive no education. Uprooted from rural villages from 23 provinces around China, the students face a host of issues in dealing with their new urban setting. Many suffer the pain of separation from their loved ones at home, and feelings of being alienated and discriminated against in their new setting. Awakening Creativity outlines Yeh’s mission to create a healing school environment, which stimulates learning, and inspires students to dream big and take action.

Yeh thoughtfully details her creative process and implementation of her vision and methodology; offering a comprehensive guide that can be used for similar work in schools or communities around the world. Yeh includes ideas for school-wide discussions, creative writing workshops, and team building exercises to assist students and teachers in designing and implementing their vision. An all-encompassing approach encourages students, teachers and volunteers to look into their personal life journey for inspiration, as the school becomes a literal mosaic of their expressions.

Praise for Awakening Creativity:

Awakening Creativity is a radical manifesto for social change through art. And the art Lily Yeh is most interested in is the art of living. She is a builder, an organizer, an alchemist, and a healer who is drawn to the broken places on the planet… it is hear in the open wounds of the world that she finds what is beautiful through the inspiration of those who live there… Follow her work and you will follow the path of transformation. Lily Yeh changed my life completely and if you read this book, your life as you know it will begin to change, as well, Through the vibrancy of art in action called love.
    –Terry Tempest Williams author, Finding Beauty In a Broken World

Awakening Creativity should be read by every educator, artist, activist, architect and parent, as it will change the way we understand education, parenting, healing and social change.
    –Nina Simons, Co-founder and Co-CEO, Bioneers

Awakening Creativity is an Inspiration for anyone who cares about kids, beauty and reinventing education to ignite greater, joy, expression and leadership. At once visionary and eminently useful and practical, Lily Yeh celebrates the profound capacity of art to seed and support human transformation.
    –Matthew Fox, PhD, author, Creativity And The A.W.E. Project

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