RIFF IDEAS
Creativity is innate, we all have the ability to tap into this endlessly renewable resource. So what are the conditions for it to flourish? That’s where we come in.
Riff Ideas is committed to helping you bring out the best in yourself, your team, and your organization. We work with you to leverage your innate creativity and apply fresh ideas, new perspectives, and creative approaches to opportunities and challenges wherever they might be.
Grounded in arts-based learning, our programs use the artist’s creative process as a way to practice and develop creative thinking - because the best way to learn to be creative is to create.
➤ WHAT WE DO
We design and deliver experiences that use the arts to develop creative capacity.
➤ OUR PROGRAMS
In-person and virtual programs for all audience types and sizes, ranging from one hour to multiple days.
➤ LOCATION
Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, but serving clients near and far.
➤ GET IN TOUCH
Reach out via email. We’d love to hear more about what you’ve got in mind.
We bring creativity to the forefront.
Our framework uses the same processes that allow an artist to navigate opportunities, explore possibilities, and generate breakthroughs. At Riff Ideas our programs, activities, and conversation spring from this source.
Arts enrich the human experience and allow diverse groups of people to come together to collaborate and orchestrate the exchange of knowledge and ideas that shape our future. From painting and sculpting to poetry and performance, we craft experiences that embrace the creative process resulting in new insights, perspectives, and the courage to act on ideas back in the office or in the community.
Riff Ideas serves anyone and everyone who has an interest in exploring, experimenting, or creating. We work with organizations who want improve their products or services, teams looking to find better ways to share their story, and companies seeking to develop core competencies in their learning and development initiatives.
Above all, we work with people interested in cultivating work environments that encourage the free flow of ideas, collaborative interactions that spark insights, and who want to fully appreciate and get the most out of diverse experiences and points of view.
A glimpse of what we can do.
WORKSHOPS (One to two hours)
Patterns and predictable processes can be great for efficiencies, but they can cripple creativity. With just an hour or two, we can help shake up the status quo and reconnect you with your creative core. Our clients have booked workshops during conference sessions, to kick off a strategic planning meeting, and for a collaborative team-building experience ending with a happy hour.
TRAINING PROGRAMS (Half-day to Multi-day)
Strengthen your understanding of the creative process and discover new ways to apply it in your life. Our clients have booked skill-based training programs to build creative confidence, to complement an existing training program, and for hands-on consulting experience within a business unit.
CUSTOM PROGRAMS (Virtual and in-person)
Reach out! We’d love to craft a custom experience tailed for your audience.
Our Founders
SUZANNE FETSCHER
Suzanne holds an MFA degree and taught studio courses for five years at several central Florida colleges and universities. Nearly 20 years ago, Suzanne was recruited to serve as founding CEO of McColl Center for Art + Innovation in Charlotte, North Carolina. Founding the Center was an adventurous and strategic opportunity for Suzanne to establish an ambitious international artist-in-residence program with a strong connection to the local community. During her tenure, Suzanne established the Center as a thought leader in the field of residency programs and cultural organizations nationally. And in 2005, she created and launched the Innovation Institute, an artist-led personal and professional development program for executives focusing on creativity and innovation. Since its inception, over 4,000 professionals representing more than 60 organizations, many of which are Fortune 500 companies, have participated in programs across the United States. Suzanne retired from McColl Center in October 2017, having secured more than $1.9 million in grants for the Innovation Institute.
SUSAN JEDRZEJEWSKI
Susan is an artist and arts organizer who has been collaborating with artists and business for +16 years, bringing a passion for the arts and a strong commitment to engaging others in its process. She has designed and delivered programs for a range of clients including Fortune 50 companies, universities, civic, and nonprofit agencies seeking an infusion of creativity. She currently works at Hodges Taylor, providing art consulting services for public and private spaces. She is the former Co-Director of Goodyear Arts, a vibrant artist-led, grass-roots organization that showcases the work of resident and visiting artists, the former Director of Innovation Institute and New Inititiates at McColl Center, and has held roles with the Arts & Science Council, and Waterworks Visual Arts Center. Susan earned her MBA in Leadership from Queens University of Charlotte and BA in studio art from UNC Charlotte.
As an artist, she has exhibited her work at McColl Center (Charlotte, NC), Goodyear Arts (Charlotte, NC), Lodger Gallery (Kansas City, MO), Rochester Contemporary Art Center (Rochester, NY), treats gallery (NYC), Flordia State University of Fine Art (Tallahassee, FL), among others.
VICKI TAYLOR
Being interested in pretty much everything Vicki has a history of following curiosity where it leads. Moving from fine arts to anthropology to law she holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin and the University of Colorado where she put herself through law school by running a real estate business. She has lived in 5 states and 4 countries running an international consulting business since 1990. Passionate about social, legal and environmental justice – she works toward inclusion, equity and creative collaboration for all. “Exploring with art helps us see beyond the obvious and produce the unexpected. It not only brings insight but new ways to act”.
Vicki serves on several non profit boards and loves to be outdoors. She and her husband Leo live among trees, a vegetable garden and a few chickens on the north shores of Lake Norman.
THE ART OF MAKING IDEAS.