As we navigate the present and plan for the future, our expanded focus on art and education is ongoing. One example is our recent partnership with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and MIT. Based on an original experiment designed by Whitney Bernstein, and Lizzie Kripke, with support from Brown University, WHOI and MIT, PROJECT SYNERGY II is designed to unite ocean scientists with artists in finding a common ‘language’ to communicate oceanographic life and activity through artistic expression.
Thirteen to fifteen artists will be paired with scientists over this multi-year project. Scientists will be challenged to comprehensively share their ideas and research, and artists will be challenged to listen fully, think deeply, and create unique responses to challenging questions or subjects. The outcome of these challenges has the potential to connect people to the environment through the understanding of scientific research with the universal language of art. Ellen Biegert, EA has taken a lead role in managing the project.