Current Leonardo Affiliate Members
Gold Level Members
eDream, the Emerging Digital Research and Education in Arts Media Institute, was founded in January 2009 at the University of Illinois by the Office of the Provost to serve as an international center for envisioning and practicing the emerging digital arts. eDream sponsors visiting artists and scholars, conducts active research programs, contributes to significant creative productions, and fosters new academic programming. Led by Donna Cox, Guy Garnett, Bob Patterson, and Kelly Searsmith, eDream is housed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications and draws upon the unique strengths of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Institute is developing international partnerships, which include the Cyprus Institute, and seeking collaborators for research projects, scholarly exchange, and creative production. This coming April, eDream will lead the Arts for HASTAC 2010.
http://edream.illinois.edu/
Evolutionary Systems Group (ESG), directed by Pier Augusto Bertacchini, Eleonora Bilotta and Pietro Pantano, is an interdisciplinary group of professors and researchers operating in a broad scientific area characterized by interdisciplinarity.
The group operates at the University of Calabria (Italy) and aims at promoting scientific exchange and high formation through the Doctoral School "Archimede" in Science, Communication and Technologies; a PhD course in "Psychology of Programming and Artificial Intelligence"; a Laboratory of Psychology; a strong relationship with other PhD courses held at national and international universities; and international projects in collaboration with other universities and research centers (i.e. "Scientific Scenarios and Art" project in the Culture 2007-2013 Programme). ESG research is theoretical and applied, covering various fields, including Digital Edutainment and Science Communication; Scientific Visualization and Digital Art; Evolutionary and Generative Music; Mathematical Modelling of Natural and Artificial Behaviour; Cultural Heritage and Educational Technologies. Leonardo/ISAST welcomes the University of Calabria Evolutionary Systems Group as a new Affiliate Member.
http://galileo.cincom.unical.it/
The Master of Fine Arts in Sound at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago is a unique program in the creative use of sound that goes well beyond the boundaries of a typical program in visual art, music, or multimedia. Students may pursue the creation and recording of audio work; the composition of music in numerous genres; live performance, improvisation, and audio installation; the integration of sound in other media, such as video, film, performance, and web-based art; designing and building software and hardware instruments; live and recorded electroacoustic music; and the use of distribution technologies such as radio, internet, and others.
http://www.saic.edu
Silver Level Members
The Digital Worlds Institute was founded in 2001 as a partnership between the University of Florida Colleges of Fine Arts and Engineering, and has grown its interdisciplinary initiatives with partners in Communications and the Health Sciences. Founding Director James Oliverio spearheaded its first major offering in conjunction with the Global SuperComputing Conference SC2001. The resultant production, Dancing Beyond Boundaries (DBB), is still regarded as a seminal example of global-scale synchronous performing arts collaboration. Digital Worlds was commissioned to create In Common: TIME for ACM SIGGRAPH at the Los Angeles Convention Center (2005) and won the Inaugural Peoria Prize for Creativity in the Arts and Sciences for Hands Across the Ocean (2005). From out of the nearly 700 Digital Media programs recognized in its third annual survey of North American colleges and universities, the International Digital Media and Arts Association (iDMAa) bestowed its 2008 Innovative Program Award to the Institute.
http://www.digitalworlds.ufl.edu
SymbioticA is an artistic laboratory dedicated to research, learning, critique and hands-on engagement with the life sciences. With a strong emphasis on experiential practice, SymbioticA facilitates a thriving program of residencies, research, academic courses (undergraduate and postgraduate), exhibitions, symposiums, and workshops. Researchers and students from all disciplines work on individual projects or in interdisciplinary teams to explore the shifting relations and perceptions of life. As a research center within the School of Anatomy and Human Biology at The University of Western Australia, SymbioticA enables direct and visceral engagement with scientific techniques. Crossing the disciplines of art and the life sciences, SymbioticA encourages better understanding and articulation of cultural ideas around scientific knowledge and informed critique of the ethical and cultural issues of life manipulation. SymbioticA won the inaugural Golden Nica in Hybrid Arts at Prix Ars Electronica.
http://www.symbiotica.uwa.edu.au
The Herb Alpert School of Music at California Institute of the Arts offers programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Programs include: the Performer-Composer Program, including African American Improvisational Music; Composition, including Experimental Sound Practices; Jazz; performance programs in African Music and Dance, Balinese and Javanese Music and Dance, Brass, Guitar, Harp, North Indian Music, Percussion, Piano/Keyboard, Collaborative Keyboard, Strings, Voice, Winds, World Music, World Percussion; Music Technology; and Musical Arts. All interact in a lively, interdisciplinary atmosphere guided by principles of artistic excellence, experimentation, critical reflection and independent inquiry. Students work alongside faculty to explore new musical possibilities and contribute to the evolution of music practice as composers, performers and producers who will help shape the global musical landscape of tomorrow.
http://www.calarts.edu
The Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Caldas, in Colombia, aims to provide a high-quality humanities education that, through a holistic concept of the individual and knowledge, develops professionals in the sciences, arts and technology for the development of society and the consolidation of a national identity. The school specializes in arts, design, philosophy and educational studies. Academic programs include visual arts, performing arts, music, philosophy, modern languages, literature, educational research and visual design, creating spaces for a dynamic interrelation of art, science and technology in the region and the country. It is of great interest to University of Caldas to carry out work with institutions to achieve the proposed targets.
http://www.ucaldas.edu.co/
The Art | Sci Center at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is dedicated to pursuing and promoting the evolving "Third Culture" by facilitating the infinite potential of collaborations between (media) arts and (bio/nano) sciences. The center's affiliation with the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) offers access to cutting edge researchers and their laboratories and a dedicated gallery for exhibitions. Here too the center hosts the Sci|Art NanoLab Summer Institute for high school students by introducing them to the vast possibilities in the quantum field of artscience for the present/future generations. In cooperation with CNSI, the UCLA School of the Arts and the Department of Design | Media Arts, the Art | Sci Center supports visiting research scholars, and artists in residency from around the world. The center hosts lectures, mixers, and symposia to bring artists and scientists together in order to mesh these cultures and inspire individuals to think about art and science as already interrelated and relevant to our society.
http://artsci.ucla.edu
Bronze Level Members
ZER01, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organization whose mission is to inspire creativity at the intersection of art, technology, and digital culture, is a platform for the exploration and presentation of work dealing with the critical issues of our time by some of the most creative minds in the world. And, as a result, is Silicon Valley's best bet for creating a global cultural relevance for the region that mirrors the creativity and innovation for which Silicon Valley is recognized. ZER01's primary enterprise is the 01SJ Biennial a multi-disciplinary, multi-venue event of visual and performing arts, the moving image, public art, and of course, interactive digital media. 01SJ will become the Ars Electronica of North America; the undisputed Sundance and South by Southwest for independent digital media, and a globally recognized biennial of contemporary art on the order of the Liverpool Biennale and the Edinburgh Festival.
http://zero1.org/
The Media Technology Master of Science (MSc) program at University of Leiden is a place where students, artists and researchers are allowed to formulate their own scientific questions. They are encouraged to translate personal inspiration and curiosities into their own manageable and compact research projects. The program recognizes creativity as an important factor in scientific innovation. It aims to be a place where students, artists and scientists do research by creating innovative solutions, inspired by results and principles of science. To achieve this, the curriculum focuses on creative exploration and on the understanding of science and technology. The program encourages its students to draw from the knowledge available throughout Leiden University and the ArtScience program of the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague. Keywords throughout the program are creativity, technology and scientific research. The program’s goal is to stimulate innovation and creativity in scientific research by innovative application of technology. One might say that Media Technology delivers autonomous scientists, just as art academies deliver autonomous artists. The program is a joint initiative of Leiden University’s computer science institute (LIACS) and the Academy for Creative and Performing Arts.
http://www.mediatechnology.leiden.edu
The Master's of Fine Arts, Electronic Media Arts & Design program of the University of Denver is a high-residency program that fuses the practical and theoretical aspects of Electronic Media Arts and Design. It emphasizes the production of electronic works that critically engage with the global cultural dialogue. Within this context, the program provides an opportunity for research and further development of creativity, knowledge and skills in electronic media arts and design. The eMAD MFA program also calls on students to critically reflect upon their own practices within the context of art and design. The eMAD MFA program provides motivated and dedicated individuals the opportunity to work closely with professionally active faculty members who are committed to mentoring students in order to further develop the students’ creative critical practice and to foster the ability of students to become leaders in the field. The Bachelor of Fine Arts, Electronic Media Arts & Design degree is for students looking to enter the fields of design or new media-based fine art as professionals upon graduation, or continue their studies in a new media based Master's of Fine Arts program. The eMAD BFA program provides intensive training in design principles, visual communication, critical approaches, the use of computers and design software, and professional design practices. While preparing students for a professional career in design, the program also caters to students pursuing an independent art life as exhibiting electronic media artists. Students have 24-hour access to the Leo block Digital Art Student Studio. They participate in a group exhibition at the end of the senior year.
http://www.du.edu/art/
The Arts and Technology (ATEC) program at UT Dallas, which leads to the B.A., M.A. or M.F.A., stands alone in intent, design and approach among all other degree programs in Texas. It is Texas's first comprehensive degree program to explore and foster the convergence of computer science and engineering with the creative arts and the humanities. The program fosters the development of intellectually agile graduates who combine focused expertise with imagination. The desired outcome of the program will be students who can seize and, more importantly, create opportunities for economic, social and cultural benefit to the community. The program (800 students strong) is a joint creation of the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science and the School of Arts and Humanities. ATEC is a collaborative effort that transcends existing disciplines and academic units. Beyond merely "multidisciplinary" or "interdisciplinary" in its scope, ATEC encourages the productive convergence of disparate fields and modes of thinking. It joins science with the humanities, creativity with technology, theory with practice and learning with research. The program has special area concentrations in Computer Visualization/Animation, Interaction Design, Digital Sound Design, Computer Simulation and Serious Game Design, On-line Worlds and Social Networking.
http://iiae.utdallas.edu/
Media Arts and Technology (MAT) at the University of California Santa Barbara is a transdisciplinary graduate program that fuses emergent media, computer science, engineering, electronic music, digital art research, practice, production, and theory. Created by faculty in both the College of Engineering and the College of Letters and Science, MAT offers an unparalleled opportunity for working at the frontiers of art, science, and technology, where new art forms are born and new expressive media are invented. MAT seeks to define and create the future of media art and media technology. Research at MAT explores the limits of what is possible in technologically sophisticated art and media, from both artistic and engineering perspectives. Combining art, science, and engineering, MAT graduate studies provide students with a combination of critical and technical tools that prepare them for leadership roles in artistic, engineering, entrepreneurial, educational, and research endeavors.
http://www.mat.ucsb.edu/
The Banff New Media Institute (BNMI) is an internationally respected arts production and research institute. Programs are designed to support creative pluralism, different modes of inquiry, the production of new work, and the engagement of artists, producers, technologists, and researchers with the aesthetics and culture of new media. BNMI offers thematic and self-directed artist residencies, partners on research initiatives, provides training, and offers professional development and production support in a multi-disciplinary development environment. Practitioners are able to access a range of expertise, peers, facilities, and environments--all in the Centre's inspiring mountain campus. BNMI draws on more than 15 years of new media experience at The Banff Centre. Working with key partners, BNMI leverages local knowledge, international networks, and a commitment to providing a rich context for experimentation, risk taking, and the development of new knowledge. Fundamental to BNMI is the belief that the creative sector flourishes through collaboration and that the links and tensions across art, technology, science, and research have a critical role to play in describing new ways to see the world, participating in contemporary cultures, and shaping the future. BNMI features a cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural environment where practices and people converge.
http://www.banffcentre.ca/BNMI/
The Master Program in Technology and Digital Art is organized by the University of Minho, one of the recognized top universities in Portugal, with the participation of faculty from the schools of Architecture, Communication Sciences, Engineering, Psychology and Education. It approaches technology as a tool for artistic expression, exploring new concepts for interactive experiences. This master program bridges engineering, design and artistic processes from conceptualization through prototyping to the implementation stage. It is oriented towards individuals with an artistic or technological background aiming at acquiring a different point of view on their creative process. It provides hands-on experience through the development of projects during the semester, working closely with the teaching staff. Seminars, exhibitions, and other opportunities are organized for the students to exhibit their work.
http://mtad.dsi.uminho.pt/en/introduction.html
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Find out how your organization can join and become an Affiliate Member of Leonardo/ISASTUpdate 27 January 2010
