PLACES & SPACES
SARC:
Scientists/Artists Research Collaborations
SARC (Scientists/Artists Research
Collaborations) is a project of the
1st Mile Institute set up by founder,
Richard Lowenberg, located in New
Mexico. The mission of SARC is to
commission new works of art that
grow out of collaborative involvements at the intersection of the arts
and sciences, with the ultimate goal
of making art more applicable as an
educational tool and to further highlevel achievements in these fields,
providing educational and ecological
benefits to the community.
Prior to SARC’s creation, Lowenberg’s interests were rooted mainly in
ecosystem design projects and economic
research. This interest inspired him
initially to create the 1st Mile Institute in 2006,
focusing on applying solutions to broadband
availability in the surrounding rural and tribal
areas of New Mexico.
In 2012 the SARC pilot program was born,
and became a project of 516 Arts, an Albuquerque-based non-profit and co-convener for
ISEA2012 (Inter-Society for the Electronic
Arts), a conference that brings together aspects
of art, science and upcoming technology. Artists involved in ISEA2012 included Ruth West
(UCSD Center for Research in Computing and
the Arts), Francesca Samsel (Austin, Texas),
William Ray Wilson (Institute of American
Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico), Adrianne
Wortzel (New York City College of Technology), and Todd Ingalls (Chair of Graduate Studies at the School of Arts, Media, Engineering in
Tempe, Arizona). This group initiated discussions with science researchers at Los Alamos
and Sandia National Labs, the Santa Fe Institute, and UNM to encourage a better under-
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SARC founder, Richard Lowenberg
standing of the collaborative process of science
and art, in an attempt to mutually benefit the
outcomes for both fields. That September a
joint exhibition of the ISEA2012 Residency
works and SARC artists opened at the UNM
School of Architecture.
Currently, SARC is focused on creating a
long-term framework for the organization that
will include frequent public events like workshops, exhibitions, screenings and group discussions. With these programs SARC will hopefully inspire more creative thinking, encourage
the creation of new art, vitalize the future of
SciArt, and develop life-sustaining eco-strategies under an additional new program set to
launch called ECOS.
Looking ahead, SARC aims to extend its
reach internationally, and find new people to
help pave the way for upcoming collaborations
between scientists and artists.
Visit 1st-mile.org/sarc.html for more information.
SciArt in America December 2013