The Sid and Bea Parnes Creativity Collection
The Sid and Bea Parnes Creativity Collection tells the story of how one spark of imagination grew into a global movement for creativity. Located on the second floor of E.H. Butler Library at Buffalo State University, the collection highlights the people, ideas, artifacts, and community that helped shape the modern study and practice of creativity.
"I believe that all of us are endowed with a divine spark, and that that spark is our creative imagination. By implementing it with willpower, we can acquire a habit of creative effort. And to my mind, creative effort is the key to a good life."
Alex Osborn - The Man Behind the Idea
Osborn, a native New Yorker, fell in love with Buffalo, where he settled and raised a family. He commuted to New York during the week, worked at BBDO, wrote letters to his children while on the road, and returned home on weekends. His wife, Helen, was his pillar and his haven, and for Osborn, creativity was first ignited at home, and he often reflected on creative parenting.
Artifacts in the Collection
- A news article cover featuring BBDO
- Birthday card signed by his employees and colleagues at BBDO
- Formal portrait of Alex Osborn and family photographs
- What’s Right About Buffalo book
- First edition of How to Think Up (1942)
- Osborn’s own pencil notebook sketches, featuring Ideas Are Gold
- An album of his paintings and an original pencil and charcoal sketch titled The Widow
- Newspaper clip announcing his award of the Chancellor’s Medal
The Divine Spark & "Applied Imagination"
Alex Osborn believed creativity was an innate gift we all possess, and that imagination was a skill we could exercise, strengthen, and teach. This was his divine spark.
He coined the term “brainstorming,” and in 1953, wrote and published Applied Imagination, introducing Creative Problem Solving to the world. As a result, a model for solving complex challenges, a creative foundation, a university program, a global conference, and a discipline studied for academic credit were born.
Artifacts in the Collection
- Applied Imagination record and cassette tapes with text transcription
- Parnes's hand-annotated introduction to and reflections on Applied Imagination
- First-edition materials and handwritten chapters
- Promotional printing proofs
- This I Believe speech original transcription
The Creative Problem Solving Method
Creative Problem Solving (CPS) is a proven, deliberate method for approaching problems or challenges in an imaginative way. It helps you redefine what you face, generate new responses, and take action. It rests on two assumptions: that everyone has creativity, and that creative skills can be learned and strengthened. At its core are two kinds of thinking:
- Divergent thinking: generates many ideas and pushes past the obvious, also known as brainstorming.
- Convergent thinking: screens, evaluates, and refines those ideas into workable solutions while preserving what makes them novel.
We all do both every day without realizing it. Organized into four stages, CPS simply makes the process deliberate: Clarify, Ideate, Develop, and Implement.
Artifacts in the Collection
- The Third Annual CPSI program (1957) and a selection of annual institute programs
- The personal notebook with writing by Sid Parnes, and a picture of Sid and Bea together
- An engraved Creative Education Foundation membership invitation
- Photographs of CPSI sessions and the My First CPSI reflections
- A Buffalo newspaper feature naming the city a world center for creative problem solving
Creativity as a Field of Study
In 1954, after Applied Imagination gained widespread influence, Osborn established the Creative Education Foundation. With Dr. Sidney J. Parnes, he developed the Osborn–Parnes Creative Problem Solving Model, which is still regarded as the gold standard and the basis for many process iterations. Parnes and Dr. Ruth B. Noller developed a method to teach and test the model, bringing the work to the university and founding what is now the Center for Applied Imagination, where creativity became an academic discipline.
What began with Osborn, as he created new ways of thinking and a revolutionary field, he and Parnes turned into a complete, teachable process. Parnes and Noller collaborated and further forged the work into an academic program.
Alex F. Osborn
A co-founder of BBDO, one of the country’s largest advertising agencies, Alex Osborn developed brainstorming, a deliberate method for creative thinking. He believed creativity was a skill that could be developed, not simply an innate gift.
After being fired from a Buffalo newspaper job, Osborn was hired elsewhere after an editor recognized an “idea” in his early work. That experience sparked his lifelong interest in creativity. He brought that focus to advertising, later writing Applied Imagination (1953), founding the Creative Education Foundation (1954), and launching the Creative Problem Solving Institute (CPSI) to share his methods.
Sidney J. Parnes
Sidney J. Parnes was a beloved educator and visionary in creativity. After meeting Alex Osborn at the first Creative Problem Solving Institute in Buffalo, Parnes became his closest collaborator. Together, they developed the Osborn–Parnes Creative Problem Solving Model and shared it worldwide.
In 1967, Parnes established Buffalo State’s creativity program, built one of the world’s largest creativity libraries, launched the Journal of Creative Behavior, and authored more than a dozen books. He helped shape CPSI's enduring spirit of deferred judgment, support, warmth, and generosity.
Ruth B. Noller
Together with Sidney J. Parnes, Ruth Noller led the Creative Studies Project (1967–1972), landmark research showing that creativity training could improve students’ thinking and problem-solving. Her Formula for Creativity, C = fa(K, I, E), defined creativity as a function of Knowledge, Imagination, and Evaluation, activated by a creative attitude.
A gifted mentor and motivator, Noller helped establish Buffalo State’s creativity programs. With Parnes, she continued Alex Osborn’s legacy by establishing what is now the Center for Applied Imagination.
Artifacts in the Collection
- Portraits of Ruth B. Noller, Alex F. Osborn, and Sidney J. Parnes
- Creative Education Foundation's CPSO Hall of Fame
- Creative Education Foundation pamphlet
- Instructor's Manual for courses in CPS
- Creative Thinking first semester book UNI. of Buffalo, 1954
- Cassette tape of Visionizing by Sidney J. Parnes with music by Bill Hartwell
- Toward Supersanity by Sidney J. Parnes and Ruth B. Noller
- Scratching the Surface of Creative Problem Solving by Ruth B. Noller
Inspiring a Community
Osborn’s work, along with Parnes and Noller's collaboration, inspired a growing movement around creative problem solving.
In 1955, the Creative Education Foundation held the first Creative Problem Solving Institute (CPSI) in Buffalo, where Sid Parnes and Alex Osborn met, sparking a partnership that shaped the field. CPSI remains the world’s longest-running creativity and innovation conference.
Sid and Bea Parnes carried deliberate creativity around the globe, bringing workshops and training to communities across six continents. After Sid’s death, Bea established the Sidney J. Parnes Global Fellowship to continue his legacy.
The Brainstorm Boom
As brainstorming spread, Osborn received interest from around the world. The U.S. Army and Air Force adopted Creative Problem Solving techniques for training, while companies such as Heinz and Hallmark used brainstorming to address production challenges and train writers. IBM, Prudential, and other organizations explored his methods, as did universities including Columbia. Osborn also heard from prominent leaders, including Henry Ford II, Earl Warren, Richard Nixon, Lyndon B. Johnson, Herbert Hoover, and Dwight Eisenhower.
Artifacts in the Collection
- Letters from Hallmark Cards, H.J. Heinz, IBM, and the General Motors Institute Creative Engineers Club
- Correspondence and signed picture from the White House
- A greeting card from the Helen Keller World Crusade for the Blind
- Newspaper clippings featuring the power of Brainstorming and Brainstorming booklets
Creativity and You
What began with Alex Osborn, and was shaped through years of close collaboration with Sidney Parnes and Ruth Noller, alongside many other contributors such as E. Paul Torrance, J.P. Guilford, continues to evolve today. At Buffalo State's Center for Applied Imagination, scholars, students, and practitioners are exploring new questions: creative leadership, innovation, well-being, creative preferences, and the relationship between artificial intelligence and human imagination. This page features current work by our faculty and department members.
Artifacts in the Collection
- FourSight Thinking Profile Pamphlet by Dr. Gerard Puccio, Sarah Thurber, Dr. Blair Miller, and Russ Schoen
- Create in a Flash by Dr. Roger Firestien
- The Palgrave Handbook of Applied Creativity in Global Higher Education, edited by Gerard J. Puccio, Amanada Lohiser, Camille A. McKayle, and Frederik Hertel
- CPS bots by Dr. David Yates, Mikhaila Ackerbauer, Scott Jesmore, Faizan Kazani, and Chris Von Spitzer
- Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking artifact and stuffed elephant
- Newspaper clippings featuring Buffalo as the center for imagination
- Creative Leadership Skills That Drive Change by Gerard Puccio, Mary C. Murdock, and Marie Mance
Your Spark Ignited
Creative Problem-Solving Chatbots
Try Creative Problem Solving for yourself. These chatbots walk you through a real CPS session. Each one connects to its section of the companion guide so you can follow along.
Color Your World
Let's color the world in creativity together. Share how you are using your spark and let us know where you are from.
The Curiosity Cabinet
Check out our special features and be sure to open each drawer for new surprises.