In this episode of If I Were the Minister for Education, I speak with Grace Brennan, founder of Higgle, about process-driven visual arts and creative thinking in primary classrooms. Grace shares her education journey from County Wexford to art and design studies and entrepreneurship supported by Enterprise Ireland and local programmes, and reflects on how third-level art opened her mind to experimentation and careers. We discuss how art can become outcome-focused “cookie cutter” work influenced by social media, often because teachers lack training and time to explore materials, and why this can harm children’s creativity and confidence. Grace explains Higgle as a digital prompt generator that supports open-ended, cross-curricular art problems adaptable to available materials and diverse classroom needs, and she outlines her EPV courses for teachers.00:00 Welcome and Art Chat01:24 Grace Brennan Journey03:35 Simon Art Teaching Roots04:56 Mentors and Creativity07:57 Leaving Cert Art Reality09:03 Fixing Cookie Cutter Art16:31 Why Art Foundations Matter20:00 STEAM and New Curriculum22:55 What Is Higgle24:47 Inside the Prompt Generator26:12 Pencil and Paper Challenge27:45 Minister for a Day30:32 Where to Find Higgle31:52 Final Thanks and Wrap This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit simonmlewis.substack.com/subscribe

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