Science Stories
March 11 - May 29, 2022
Join us for the opening reception!
Please join us on Friday, March 11th from 5:00pm- 7:00pm for the opening reception of 'Science Stories'. Get your first looks at the new exhibit, meet the artists, and enjoy a drink in our courtyard. Co-curator Lucia Harrison will give a short presentation at 5:30pm.
Please join us on Friday, March 11th from 5:00pm- 7:00pm for the opening reception of 'Science Stories'. Get your first looks at the new exhibit, meet the artists, and enjoy a drink in our courtyard. Co-curator Lucia Harrison will give a short presentation at 5:30pm.
Science Stories banner design by Deborah Greenwood.
Science Stories: A Collaboration of Book Artists and Scientists
Curated by The Collins Memorial Library at The University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, USA
On-Line Exhibition (available now): https://blogs.pugetsound.edu/sciencestories/
In-Person Exhibition (March 11, 2022 – May 29, 2022) at The Esther Webster Gallery at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center.
Science Stories is a unique project that brings together 16 Pacific Northwest scientists and 22 book artists to create engaging and unique artists’ books that offer new ways to interpret science and to tell a story. We divided the Science Stories projects into broad topics: water, ice, mountains, flora, fauna, and human health. Because this work was created during the Pandemic and we did not know if we could have an in-person exhibition, we created a highly informative website that includes videos about each scientist’s research as well as information, images, and videos about each artist book project.
We invited artists whose work represented a strong connection with science and our environment. The scientists were from The Evergreen State College, University of Puget Sound, University of Washington, Washington State University, University of Wyoming, The National Park Service, and Tacoma Public Utilities. In January 2020 (just before the Pandemic hit) the group met together at the Slater Museum of Natural History at The University of Puget Sound, for what we called a “speed dating” event that provided the opportunity for participants to learn about the scientific research in our community. The artists and scientists rotated throughout the afternoon learning from one another about their art and research and artifacts from the Museum. As a result of this event, 16 pairs were formed to work together and 6 individual artists opted to work with an museum artifact or science topic on their own. The principle goal of this project was to expand awareness of the scientific research and work being done in our local community and to provide a new way to raise awareness of their work and make the research more accessible to a broader audience.
In addition to learning about the scientific research concerning Pacific Northwest water, mountains, ice, flora, fauna and human health, viewers can reflect on the different ways the artists used the research to inspire their work.
Science Stories addresses the unique collaboration between a book artist and scientist, resulting in new, innovative and inspiring ways to showcase research in highly creative book formats and to reach new audiences. These books are interactive, requiring the viewer to look, touch and feel.
We believe that these artists’ books and the accompanying website can be used in the classroom and the community as catalysts for conversation and serve as a starting point to examine points of view and to invite reflection about scientific research.
Science Stories: A Collaboration of Book Artists and Scientists
Curated by The Collins Memorial Library at The University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, USA
On-Line Exhibition (available now): https://blogs.pugetsound.edu/sciencestories/
In-Person Exhibition (March 11, 2022 – May 29, 2022) at The Esther Webster Gallery at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center.
Science Stories is a unique project that brings together 16 Pacific Northwest scientists and 22 book artists to create engaging and unique artists’ books that offer new ways to interpret science and to tell a story. We divided the Science Stories projects into broad topics: water, ice, mountains, flora, fauna, and human health. Because this work was created during the Pandemic and we did not know if we could have an in-person exhibition, we created a highly informative website that includes videos about each scientist’s research as well as information, images, and videos about each artist book project.
We invited artists whose work represented a strong connection with science and our environment. The scientists were from The Evergreen State College, University of Puget Sound, University of Washington, Washington State University, University of Wyoming, The National Park Service, and Tacoma Public Utilities. In January 2020 (just before the Pandemic hit) the group met together at the Slater Museum of Natural History at The University of Puget Sound, for what we called a “speed dating” event that provided the opportunity for participants to learn about the scientific research in our community. The artists and scientists rotated throughout the afternoon learning from one another about their art and research and artifacts from the Museum. As a result of this event, 16 pairs were formed to work together and 6 individual artists opted to work with an museum artifact or science topic on their own. The principle goal of this project was to expand awareness of the scientific research and work being done in our local community and to provide a new way to raise awareness of their work and make the research more accessible to a broader audience.
In addition to learning about the scientific research concerning Pacific Northwest water, mountains, ice, flora, fauna and human health, viewers can reflect on the different ways the artists used the research to inspire their work.
Science Stories addresses the unique collaboration between a book artist and scientist, resulting in new, innovative and inspiring ways to showcase research in highly creative book formats and to reach new audiences. These books are interactive, requiring the viewer to look, touch and feel.
We believe that these artists’ books and the accompanying website can be used in the classroom and the community as catalysts for conversation and serve as a starting point to examine points of view and to invite reflection about scientific research.
Learn more about selected books below:
Four-page spread from Mari Eckstein Gower’s Connections: The Willow and the Mountain. Photo by Sy Bean
Connections: The Willow and the Mountain
In Connections: The Willow and the Mountain artist Mari Eckstein Gower interprets Dr.Carri LeRoy’s research on how the early colonizing plants like willow, play a role in the evolution of new stream ecosystems developing in the pumice plain after the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helen’s. Eckstein-Gower places the research into the broad context of the devastating eruption and regeneration of eco-systems.
In Connections: The Willow and the Mountain artist Mari Eckstein Gower interprets Dr.Carri LeRoy’s research on how the early colonizing plants like willow, play a role in the evolution of new stream ecosystems developing in the pumice plain after the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helen’s. Eckstein-Gower places the research into the broad context of the devastating eruption and regeneration of eco-systems.
Hunting and trapping In N. America, a 3-page spread from Castor and Sapient by Shu-Ju Wang. Photo by Aaron Johanson
Collaborating with beavers in ecological restoration, a -2-page spread from Castor and Sapient by Shu-Ju Wang. Photo by Aaron Johanson
Castor and Sapient
In Castor and Sapient, artist Shu-Ju Wang situates Dr. Peter Wimburger’s research on beavers in ecological restoration in a fascinating story that follows the long arc of human’s exploitation of natural resources. Sandwiched between the history of beaver hunting & trapping to satisfy European fashion trends and our current efforts at ecological restoration, Wang weaves in the story of her own garden’s evolution from a suburban lawn to one that more resembles a native landscape.
In Castor and Sapient, artist Shu-Ju Wang situates Dr. Peter Wimburger’s research on beavers in ecological restoration in a fascinating story that follows the long arc of human’s exploitation of natural resources. Sandwiched between the history of beaver hunting & trapping to satisfy European fashion trends and our current efforts at ecological restoration, Wang weaves in the story of her own garden’s evolution from a suburban lawn to one that more resembles a native landscape.
Cover and back of accordion book showing a beaver dam collage in Castor and Sapient by Shu-Ju Wang. Photo by Aaron Johanson.
Artist Jim Oker’s Working Upstream with one stacked lens open. Photo by Jim Oker
Working Upstream
Chemist Dr. Dan Burgard’s use of wastewater-based epidemiology to estimate focused community drug use inspired photographer Jim Oker. Working with book designer Suze Woolf, Oker created Working Upstream, an artist book that works like stacked lenses. Oker observes that water can become a lens through which the world can be seen, both figuratively and literally. Oker thinks this strand of scientific work is fascinating in terms of future potential for use by policymakers as well as for the issues it raises including how to avoid violating privacy rights and expectations.
Chemist Dr. Dan Burgard’s use of wastewater-based epidemiology to estimate focused community drug use inspired photographer Jim Oker. Working with book designer Suze Woolf, Oker created Working Upstream, an artist book that works like stacked lenses. Oker observes that water can become a lens through which the world can be seen, both figuratively and literally. Oker thinks this strand of scientific work is fascinating in terms of future potential for use by policymakers as well as for the issues it raises including how to avoid violating privacy rights and expectations.
The Making of a Meadow Timeline accordion book by Lou Cabeen. Photo by Sy Bean
The Making of a Meadow herbarium sheets (left) and Apple Archive (right) Photos by Sy Bean
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The Making of a Meadow
In the boxed 5-part The Making of a Meadow, artist Lou Cabeen shows us how we can come to know ordinary landscapes and imagine what is possible. An accordion book traces the evolution of the Union Bay Natural Area in Seattle, Washington, from a lake, to a land fill, to a restored natural area. Cabeen walks this area almost daily and she has created maps, a 3-part herbarium, an apple archive and a set of haiku poems. Cabeen’s talks with wetland ecologist Dr. Caren Crandell introduced her to the practices that brought about this transformation and deepened her ability to bear witness to the tending that such transformation requires.
In the boxed 5-part The Making of a Meadow, artist Lou Cabeen shows us how we can come to know ordinary landscapes and imagine what is possible. An accordion book traces the evolution of the Union Bay Natural Area in Seattle, Washington, from a lake, to a land fill, to a restored natural area. Cabeen walks this area almost daily and she has created maps, a 3-part herbarium, an apple archive and a set of haiku poems. Cabeen’s talks with wetland ecologist Dr. Caren Crandell introduced her to the practices that brought about this transformation and deepened her ability to bear witness to the tending that such transformation requires.
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(left) Covers and Spine of Bark Beetle Book Vol. XXXII: Obligate Mutualism showing bark beetle patterns. (right) Open book showing embroidered “microfilaments” of the fungi upon which bark beetles depend. Photos by Suze Woolf.
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Bark Beetle Book Vol. XXXII: Obligate Mutualism
Artist Suze Woolf is preoccupied by the impact of climate change on North American Northwest Forests. An avid outdoors’ person, Woolf has observed the beautiful hieroglyphic “scribing” of bark beetles on inner bark and wood of burned and unburned forests. She collaborates with entomologist Dr. Diana Six who studies the relationship between fungi and bark beetles that make conifers worldwide more vulnerable to bark beetle outbreaks. In Bark Beetle Book Vol. XXXII: Obligate Mutualism, Woolf uses found beetle infested wood as the spine and simulated patterns of two bark beetles species. The embroidered pages simulate the micro filaments of the fungi.
A Tahoma Reliquary by Mark Hoppmann. Photos by Mark Hoppmann.
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A Tahoma Reliquary by Mark Hoppmann. Photos by Mark Hoppmann.
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A Tahoma Reliquary
In A Tahoma Reliquary, artist Mark Hoppmann and science educator Jeff Antonelis-Lapp challenge the theory that Mt. Rainier National Park was a wilderness, devoid of indigenous human presence prior to European Colonization of North America. Antonelis-Lapp’s book, Tahoma and Its People provides archeological evidence of encampments made by native peoples beginning 9000 years ago. Hoppmann’s interpretation of this evidence is housed in a Mt. Rainier shaped cabinet that contains a portfolio of drawings and notes from Antonelis-Lapp’s work as a volunteer with national park scientists and a portfolio of drawings of animals with their indigenous Lushootseed names.
In A Tahoma Reliquary, artist Mark Hoppmann and science educator Jeff Antonelis-Lapp challenge the theory that Mt. Rainier National Park was a wilderness, devoid of indigenous human presence prior to European Colonization of North America. Antonelis-Lapp’s book, Tahoma and Its People provides archeological evidence of encampments made by native peoples beginning 9000 years ago. Hoppmann’s interpretation of this evidence is housed in a Mt. Rainier shaped cabinet that contains a portfolio of drawings and notes from Antonelis-Lapp’s work as a volunteer with national park scientists and a portfolio of drawings of animals with their indigenous Lushootseed names.
Enmeshed by Anne Greenwood-Rioseco and Daniela del Mar. Photos by Sy Bean
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Enmeshed by Anne Greenwood-Rioseco and Daniela del Mar. Photos by Sy Bean
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Enmeshed
Enmeshed is an artist book that uses scientific research as a metaphor. Artists Anne Greenwood-Rioseco and Daniela del Mar draw attention to Lichenologist Dr. Lalita Calabria’s view that lichen, rather than being viewed as two symbiotic organisms, is really a complex eco-system of many interdependent organisms. Greenwood-Rioseco and del Mar, use an interwoven book structure, images of lichen, and poems that suggest that this view of interdependency is a metaphor for human relationships. In doing so, they engage us in learning more about lichens, while at the same time questioning our focus on the merits of individualism.
Enmeshed is an artist book that uses scientific research as a metaphor. Artists Anne Greenwood-Rioseco and Daniela del Mar draw attention to Lichenologist Dr. Lalita Calabria’s view that lichen, rather than being viewed as two symbiotic organisms, is really a complex eco-system of many interdependent organisms. Greenwood-Rioseco and del Mar, use an interwoven book structure, images of lichen, and poems that suggest that this view of interdependency is a metaphor for human relationships. In doing so, they engage us in learning more about lichens, while at the same time questioning our focus on the merits of individualism.