How do you institutionalize art at field research sites?

Here's one clever and simple idea: give artists a dedicated place to stay while on site. This is a cool project proposal from Stanford, forwarded by Philippe Cohen. The funding was an internal Stanford competitive grant program under the auspices of the Stanford Art Institute.

"What really excites me about this is that it will have the effect of normalizing the presence of artists and art students at Jasper Ridge [Biological Preserve] and set the stage for interactions and collaborations between artists and researchers."

Art/Science Fusion program at UC Davis

"The UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program’s mission is to bring the creative energies of the arts and the sciences into a mixture that catalyzes change and innovation in learning for people of all ages. Described by E.O. Wilson as “a spearhead for future creative work in the intellectual borderland,” the program is a portal into a new creative territory in which people observe the world around them with fresh eyes, testing their ideas and transforming those ideas into new concepts and new insights."

Born out of a course collaboration between an artist and a scientist, the program has expanded to include additional undergraduate courses, grad student mentoring, art/science collaborations, exhibitions, workshops, GK-12 programs, and more.

More information here.

Scientist turns writer

Author Mark Winston studied bees academically for decades before turning to lyrical prose. This book is an interesting example of both his science and art.