ArtLab App
We believe that we can increase science reputation by facilitating collaborations between artist-scientist, leading to buzz-worthy social media content through the ArtLab app
Insight
We can host ~30 students and ~15 faculty a year but it is difficult to expand beyond these numbers.
Building an
art-Science
community
The siloing of art and science has not only pigeon-holed people, but it has limited their creativity
I was a terrible student, yet somehow found my way toward a professorship. I was trained as a scientist for 12+ years but ended up becoming an artist.
My career journey is studded by contradictions but the more surprising realization for me was that I wasn't alone. Many people feel their pathways torn by the dichotomy of art and science. But worse yet, this siloing of art and science prohibits the humanity of scientists.
With this in mind, I developed ArtLab in 2017, intending to build a community that breaks down the barriers between science and other disciplines. In ArtLab we use art as both the medium and the solution. ArtLab is focused on science communication at the intersection of the art technology, and outreach with a focus on people, programs, and possibilities
THE PROBLEM:
Scalability
Insight
We can host ~30 students and ~15 faculty a year, but it is difficult to expand beyond these numbers. We want to reach more people!
SCIENTISTS
ARTISTS
ADMINS
Jim Cassat, Scientist
"This is a huge avenue for us to communicate our science, and we need good artists to help convey the message clearly."
Lauren Wong, Artist
My favorite aspect was probably being pushed to do something I haven't done before, which was try to create a scientific creation through art. I also delved into animation, something I've always wanted to do, and the program pushed me to even create more comic panels. Overall, I was incredibly happy with how the program has motivated me to draw and create more as I often struggle to self-motivate.
Eric Skaar, Administrator
“The success of the VI4-AiR program motivated us to consider expanding it regionally in the hopes of building sustainable hubs around the country that are focused on merging art and science and generating interest among the public in the process of discovery,”
Key features
COLLABORATIVE DRAWING The colllaborative drawing feature allows you to brainstorm new science-art ideas and also add visual comments or suggestions to collaborative work. This takes collaboration between artists and scientists to a whole new level!
INCREASED SEARCHABILITY We were interested in developing a resource for successful collaborations between artists and scientists. We found through our user research that people wanted to be able to search by things like rate, availability, area of focus, and location. Based on this insight we developed extensive search features within the community for art, artist, and scientist.
THINKING BEYOND TWITTER Althought Twitter is by far the most used social media platform for scientists, we were challegned to think what might happen if people move away from Twitter. We therefore developed a feature that leverages the most sucessful stratagies for a variety of social media platforms using the same content. Not only does this help scientist develop social content and share the work created, but it can also be used to generate new market share through recommendations.
Insight
We needed to think about science social media after Twitter, given recent events. This was seen as an opportunity!
Insight
This was a totally unexpected feature the emerged during the low fidelity "Wizard of Oz:" testing but really nail our collaborative focus!