Matthew Burke, assistant professor of art, puts together his display at the Multidisciplinary Research Building. Burke is one of three professors whose work is on display at the research building as part of the new year-long initiative bringing art and science together.
Art, science converge in unlikely location: MRB
A year-long exhibition of artwork by three KU faculty members recently opened in an unlikely location: the Multidisciplinary Research Building on west campus.
The Office of the Vice Provost for Research and the department of art in the School of Fine Arts hosted an opening reception for the exhibition Sept. 22 at the MRB.
"We're pleased to recognize the work of KU's art faculty, while bringing some color and a little fun to this new research building," said Jim Roberts, vice provost for research. "Science and art are both creative processes, and they ought to be closer together." He noted that this may be the first time an exhibition of faculty artwork has taken place at KU outside a normal indoor gallery space.
The six art installations will be in public areas on all three floors of the MRB. Judith McCrea, professor of Art, led the committee that chose the artists.
"Placing contemporary art within this context emphasizes art as inquiry into many of the issues that are of interest to the sciences," she said.
The three faculty artists featured this year are Shawn Bitters, Matthew Burke and Yoonmi Nam, all assistant professors of art.
The Office of the Vice Provost for Research provided each artist with an honorarium. Plans are to hold a similar exhibition each year at the MRB.
Steven Hedden, dean of the School of Fine Arts, said that while on the surface, art and science may not appear compatible, the pairing is a natural fit.
"The focus of the MRB is on discovery, so it seems particularly appropriate that discoveries by our School of Fine Arts faculty will be shared throughout the school year. I'm pleased that three artists from the Department of Art will initiate the program, one that I hope becomes a recurring program of the MRB, for there are many faculty whose work we're eager to share in this and other settings," he said.
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