Rockefeller grant supports residency program for artists and scientists 9/04/00
ALFRED - An $85,000 grant from The Rockefeller Foundation will allow the Institute for Electronic Arts at Alfred University to bring 10 artists and scientists to campus for month-long "Experiments in Science-Technology-Art Residencies.""Because of the prestige of the Rockefeller Foundation, this grant is a striking testimonial to the fine work of our faculty in the Institute of Electronic Arts," said Dr. Charles M. Edmondson, president of Alfred University."The residencies supported by this Rockefeller grant will allow artists and scientists, working in an advanced technological environment, an opportunity to experiment with emerging technologies to create new expressions and processes of production," said Joseph Scheer, co-director of the Institute for Electronic Arts. "More important, the environment created within our multi-media electronic studios will support a fertile dialogue between the arts and sciences that we hope will lead to the creation of new work and new ideas."The residency program is slated to begin in November, said Scheer, who co-directs the program with Jessie Shefrin and Peer Bode. Scheer and Shefrin are professors of printmaking, and Bode is a professor of video art, all in the School of Art and Design. Scheer explained that the 10 artists and scientists, who will represent a "wide variety of disciplines," including visual and performing arts, physics, biosciences, networked communications, robotics, artificial intelligence, imaging technology and critical theory. The participants will be selected by a combined process of invitation and nomination. Three artists and three scientists will be invited by the IEA directors; five nominators, chosen by the Institute for Electronic Arts, will recommend three more for the residency program. The nominators will be scientists and artists who are highly regarded in their field.Criteria for selection of participants "will focus on those individuals whose work has the potential to make significant contributions to the evolving understanding of new technologies," according to Scheer.
Accepted artists and scientists will spend a month at Alfred University and will be encouraged to make full use of the Institute's integrated multi-media electronic arts studios. Residents will receive support in the form of equipment access, technical assistance, materials, travel, stipend and housing. When appropriate, said Scheer, residents will be expected to produce and complete work in a combination of the following media: video, audio, interactive CD-ROM, DVD, web-based media and/or large format digital prints. All residents will be given an opportunity to give a public presentation of their work during their residency, with all lectures open to the public, free of charge. Appropriate projects will be produced as editions by the Institute for Electronic Arts, with a copy for the Institute's archive. Artists and scientists will be encouraged to publish and disseminate their research. The Institute for Electronic Arts grew out of an initiative begun in 1989 by Bode, Scheer and Shefrin, as well as other faculty in the School of Art and Design.
"It was a response to the profound impact emerging technologies was having within the fields of printed, time-based and interactive arts," explained Scheer. The Institute was created in 1997."The Institute is dedicated to the integration of electronic media within fine arts disciplines through a focus on art-making, research and education," said Scheer. As a result, the IEA partners with individuals in the arts, sciences and industry. "To identify the needs of contemporary artists, the Institute supports evolving advanced electronic studio research labs, hosts international conferences, and establishes artists' residencies and workshops," he said. "The Institute encourages and supports projects that involve interactive multi-media, distance communication systems, experimental music and video environments, and
publications. Support for the Institute comes not only from the School of Art and Design and Alfred University, but also from the following corporations: Agfa Corporation; Mac Dermid Colorspan Corporation; Polaroid Corporation;
CreoScitex Corporation; SMART Technologies, and Tektronix, Inc. Grants have been received from the New York State Center for Advanced Ceramic Technology at Alfred; the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts, which is also contributing to the residency program; and the Office of Educational Technology, State University of New York. Several private donations have also been received. Since 1997, donations of equipment, materials and grants have totaled more than $1,000,000, noted Scheer.
