UW to Host Sci

“Re-envisioning the Laboratory: 2016 Sci-Art Symposium” will take place Sept. 9-10 at the University of Wyoming Visual Arts Building and UW Art Museum. The symposium will feature a keynote address by artist and biologist Brandon Ballengée.

“The goal of the Sci-Art Symposium is to catalyze collaboration, scholarship and community through interdisciplinary conversations and presentations,” says Katie Christensen, UW Art Museum curator of education and statewide engagement.

It will provide a forum for inspiration, scholarly research, networking and opportunities to gain the tools, methods and momentum to take on innovative interdisciplinary work across community, disciplinary and topical boundaries, she adds.

Sessions will be organized into five thematic categories: influences and opportunities; processes and methods; outcomes and products; challenges and opportunities; and next steps and future applications. 

Early registration is $75 for general admission, with a Sept. 1 deadline. Students also must register but will receive free admittance with “W” number verification. After Sept. 1, registration fees are $85 for general admission and $10 for students with “W” number verification. Participants are encouraged to register early.

An event schedule and registration information are available on the UW Art Museum website at www.uwyo.edu/artmuseum/museum-as-classroom/symposia/sci-art-symposium/index.html.

The Sci-Art Symposium is presented as a partnership among the UW Art Museum, UW Biodiversity Institute, UW Department of Art and Art History, UW Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, UW MFA in Creative Writing Program, and UW Science and Mathematics Teaching Center. It is funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Edelweiss Funds, Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund and Wyoming Humanities Council.

For more information, call the Art Museum at (307) 766-6622, visit the website at www.uwyo.edu/artmuseum, or follow the museum on Facebook.

Through its “Museum as Classroom” approach, the UW Art Museum places art at the center of learning for all ages. Located in the Centennial Complex at 2111 Willett Drive in Laramie, the museum is open Mondays through Saturdays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday hours are extended to 7 p.m. February through April and September through November. Admission is free.

About Brandon Ballengée

For almost 20 years, Ballengée has merged his scientific research with ecological art in transdisciplinary works that bridge art and science, and engage in environment stewardship. Ballengée’s works are inspired by direct experience with amphibians, birds, fish and insect species found in preternatural ecosystems and those observed in postnatural laboratory settings.

He works in diverse media, including biological materials, large-scale scanner photographs, outdoor site-specific installations and participatory trans-species happenings. His mid-career survey, “Waste Land: A Survey of Works by Brandon Ballengée, 1996-2016,” will be on view in the UW Art Museum starting Sept. 10.