Science, Art and Technology - The Art Institute of Chicago

La Grande Jatte, George Seurat, 1884

I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.

— Albert Einstein

"...Throughout the year art historians, museum educators, conservators, artists, and scientists spoke to teachers on wide-ranging topics, from the physics of light and color to careers in science, art, and technology...The program's overarching goal was to show science teachers that an art museum may be used as a visual library to augment and to enrich established high-school science curricula in chemistry, earth science, or physics... With primary emphasis on the theme of light and color, the sessions, conceptually integrated with Illinois State Goals and Chicago Academic Standards, revealed how the scientific method is applied to the making, conserving, and exhibiting of art."

"This Web site is designed for all teachers, who are invited to make use of its contents as points of departure for their own explorations with their students of science, art, or technology."

Link Science, Art and Technology - The Art Institute of Chicago Web Site

Mental Illness Link to Art and Sex

Pablo Picasso, Photograph: AP, 1953

"From Lord Byron to Dylan Thomas and beyond, the famous philanderers of the art world may have had a touch of mental illness to thank for their behaviour, psychologists report today."

"A survey comparing mental health and the number of sexual partners among the general population, artists and schizophrenics found that artists are more likely to share key behavioural traits with schizophrenics, and that they have on average twice as many sexual partners as the rest of the population."

"Daniel Nettle, a psychologist at Newcastle University, and Helen Clegg, at the Open University in Milton Keynes, carried out the survey in the hope it would answer a question that has been puzzling scientists for some time. Schizophrenia is so debilitating that those with the condition are often socially isolated, have trouble maintaining relationships and so reproduce at a much lower rate than the general population. But cases of schizophrenia remain high, at around 1% of the population. "On the face of it, Darwinism would suggest that the genes predisposing to schizophrenia would eventually disappear from the gene pool," said Dr Nettle."

- Ian Sample, Science correspondent, The Guardian, Wednesday, 30 November 2005

Link Full Article, The guardian.co.uk

Americans for the Arts

Web Shot - Americans for the Arts Homepage

"Americans for the Arts is the nation's leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America. With 45 years of service, we are dedicated to representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts."

Link Americans for the Arts Web Site

Michael Kimmelman on Chuck Close

Self Portrait, Chuck Close

One of the most lucid writers on art, Michael Kimmelman writes about Chuck Close and a survey of his prints on exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum in 2004.

Savoring the Process

By MICHAEL KIMMELMAN

Published: Friday, January 16, 2004

"TO marvel is the beginning of knowledge, and not to marvel, the first step toward ignorance. So the Greeks said. You can test this axiom in the Chuck Close print survey now at the Metropolitan Museum."

Permalink Full Text, New York Times

Link Goggle Image Search, Chuck Close

Art that inspires science: Studio 360

Needle Tower Sculpture, Kenneth Snelson (Image:flickr, kimberlyfaye)

Cell biologist Don Ingber explains how a modern sculpture inspired his major breakthrough in biology.

The following is not a full transcript; for full story, listen to audio.
Don Ingber is a cell biologist from Harvard Medical School, Children's Hospital. One day he saw a piece of modern sculpture and -- Eureka! -- he was inspired to make a major breakthrough in biology.

Link Full Story/Audio

© Copyright 2009 Public Radio International. All rights reserved.

Venice Biennale: Little Artists

Venetian Schoolchildren, Todd Heisler/New York Times

ArtsBeat Blog, NY Times

June 4, 2009

"VENICE – The Biennale is typically an over-serious, very adult affair, but today the main pavilion inside the Giardini, the public gardens here, was packed with howling, rambunctious, sticky-fingered Venetian schoolchildren. Many of them wore bright Batman-like masks, courtesy of the Italian artist Massimo Bartolini."

Permalink Full Text

Link Children's Sounds

The Venice Biennale - 2009

Photo, Venice Biennale Web Site

La Biennale di Venezia

Since 1895

"The Venice Biennale has for over a century been one of the most prestigious cultural institutions in the world. Ever since its foundation in 1895, it has been in the avant-garde, promoting new artistic trends and organising international events in contemporary arts. It is world-beating for the International Film Festival, for the International Art Exhibition and for the International Architecture Exhibition, and continues the great tradition of the Festival of Contemporary Music, the Theatre Festival, now flanked by the Festival of Contemporary Dance." - Source, Venice Biennale Web Site

Link Venice Biennale Web Site

Link ArtsBeat, NYTimes Commentary

ArtPrize - The American Idol of Visual What?

If you have something to exhibit, find a Grand Rapid’s Michigan venue, pay your fees, arrange to ship and hang your work, you are eligible to win the $250,000 grand prize or other cash awards. Winners are selected by popular vote made by those attending the venues. It is an international competition.

"At ArtPrize, any artist—from established to emerging—has the chance to show work (in Grand Rapids, Michigan, US). Any visitor can vote. The vote will determine who wins the largest art prize in the world. We also took the unusual step to allow people in the city to open a venue and choose the artists to show in their space. There is not one official curator or jury for the competition." - ArtPrize Web Site

Top prize: $250,000

Link ArtPrize Web Site

Link ArtPrize YouTube

Picturing America - National Endowment of the Humanities

Picturing America, Webshot

"Great art speaks powerfully, inspires fresh thinking, and connects us to our past."

"Picturing America, an exciting new initiative from the National Endowment for the Humanities, brings masterpieces of American art into classrooms and libraries nationwide. Through this innovative program, students and citizens will gain a deeper appreciation of our country's histor and character through the study and understanding of its art." - Picturing America Homepage

Link Picturing America - NEH Web Site

Making Art Central Through "Adventures in Modern Art," Philadelphia Museum of Art

Neighbors, Charles Sheeler, 1951

'If the arts are ever going to be a really important part of Americans' lives, they can't be seen as a frill, an add-on, something to do in one's spare time. They have to be integrated with everyday life. That's one reason I like "Picturing America," the National Endowment for the Humanities program I wrote about here and here, and that's why I like a new program of the Philadelphia Museum of Art -- "Adventures in Modern Art." ' - Real Clear Arts, Judith H. Dobrzynski on Culture, ArtsJournal.com Weblog

Permalink Making Art Central Through "Adventures in Modern Art," by Judith H. Dobrzynski

Link "Adventures in Modern Art," Exhibition, Philadelphia Museum of Art