High School Students Examine the Link Between Art and Science, April 12, 2012
Posted on May 17, 2012
Several hundred students from Morristown High School and Newark Arts High School filled the Dolan Performance Hall in Annunciation Center at the College of Saint Elizabeth on April 12. They came for the program When Art and Science Collaborate that examined the relationship between art and science. This free-to-the-public program, funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, looked at the interaction of art and science through visual art, poetry, theater, and dance.
“When Art and Science Collaborate” focused on the influence of science on creativity, using examples from several art forms. The program began with a presentation by Lorrie Fredette explaining how medical science informs her sculpture. “The artist was really interesting,’ said Myles Mislavsky, a junior at Morristown High School. “I really found her inspiring.”
On a stark stage with only piano benches for props, Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey actors staged scenes from Copenhagen, a play by Michael Frayn, based on a meeting between physicists Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg in 1941.
Then poet Anne Marie Macari gave a fascinating account of her visits to the cave paintings in Spain and France while reading her cave exploration poems. Mary Seidman and Dancers got a standing ovation for their performance of the original work, The Messier Project, choreographed by director Mary Seidman, based on the astronomical discoveries of Charles Messier. It was inspired by the original music composed by Bruce Lazarus, who accompanied the performance. Video designer Patrick Lovejoy created a "journey through the universe" for the dancers with projected video design onto the background cyclorama. To end the program, Dr. Laura Winters, CSE professor of English, chaired a panel discussion and Q & A with presenters.
Following the program, the students from Newark Arts High School and Morristown High School participated in hands-on workshops focusing on science, poetry writing, acting, playwriting, dance, choreography, music composition, and various media in visual art, led by the presenters and CSE faculty members.
When Art and Science Collaborate is part of a multi-disciplinary program conceptualized by Virginia Fabbri Butera, Ph.D., director of the Therese A. Maloney Art Gallery that includes the art exhibition she curated, The Abstract Universe: Microcosm/Macrocosm, which was on display at CSE Maloney Art Gallery through April 15. The exhibition was open for viewing before and after the program.
This program was funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
