The University of Iowa Office of Research and Economic Development will host a talk by Sarah Lewis, author of The Rise: Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery, as part of the Creative Matters lecture series in collaboration with the UI Arts Advancement Committee at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 12 in Art Building West.

In her book and lecture, Lewis offers a new understanding of what enables creative endeavors, arguing that from Nobel Prize-winning discoveries to new inventions and works of art, many creative triumphs are not achievements but rather conversions—corrections after failed attempts.

Drawing on figures such as Frederick Douglass, Angela Duckworth, J.K. Rowling, and others, Lewis reveals the importance of play, grit, surrender, often ignored ideas, and the necessary experiments and follow-up attempts that lead to true breakthroughs. The path to success, Lewis notes, is often more surprising than we expect.

Lewis has served on President Obama’s Arts Policy Committee, appears on Oprah’s “Power List,” has been profiled in Vogue, and is currently a professor in the History of Art and Architecture and African and African American Studies Departments at Harvard University. Her essays have been published in Artforum and The Smithsonian, and she has held positions at Yale’s School of Art, the Tate Modern, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Her second book will be published by Harvard University Press in 2016.

The event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP to attend at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/creative-matters-lecture-by-sarah-lewis-the-rise-tickets-22579367496. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

The Creative Matters lecture series seeks to demonstrate that creativity is not only at the core of all research and discovery but is also central to our human experience. The lineup of invited speakers includes artists, thinkers, builders, and doers who challenge conventional thinking about creativity, science, and artistic expression, borrowing from a range of influences and disciplines in their work.

The Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development provides resources and support to researchers and scholars at the University of Iowa and to businesses across Iowa with the goal of forging new frontiers of discovery and innovation and promoting a culture of creativity that benefits the campus, the state, and the world. More at http://research.uiowa.edu, and on Twitter: @DaretoDiscover.