You could say that creativity is part of the brand at Rochester Institute of Technology. That's why, in 2018, RIT named Leigh Rubin its first cartoonist-in-residence.
"We kind of made up the position as we went along," Rubin said. "It's all about innovation, right?"
Rubin is the creator of the internationally syndicated cartoon, "Rubes." In his world, animals like cows and bears and birds are just as likely to deliver a funny punch line as a human character.
In his twice-yearly visits to the RIT campus in Henrietta, Rubin talks to students about how to shift creativity from a vague and nebulous concept to a skill that can be applied to their work.
"I talk to a lot of design classes and even some engineering classes, and art, medical illustration...which, if you're familiar with my characters, there's nothing anatomically correct about them."
RIT Press recently published Rubin's latest book, "Think Like a Cartoonist: A Celebration of Humor and Creativity."
For him, being creative starts by finding new ways to look at things and making connections between things that don't necessarily go together. That's what he did in a recent cartoon combining rats with high rent. It was inspired by news of the spiraling cost of rent in his home state, California.
The cartoon shows a bunch of rats sticking their heads out of an arch-shaped mouse hole, holding a sign that says "How can they raise the rent on this vermin-infested hole in the wall?"
Rubin is under daily pressure to put his creative mind to work. "If your mortgage depends on it, you better do it!" he laughed.
But he thinks creativity and imagination can come together in anyone's mind, it's just a matter of exercising it.
"Think Like a Cartoonist", is a collection of true stories from people Rubin knows who used their creativity to find novel solutions to problems or bring a fresh perspective to their life. Like Long Island nurse, Susan Lutz, who found how a cup of coffee could diffuse a tense situation with a cardiac patient who was wary of signing a surgery release form.
Rubin and others will be doing live readings from the book on Thursday evening at Fairport United Methodist Church, 31 West Church St. in Fairport. The doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Admission is one non-perishable food item for the Perinton Food Shelf.
