The Art + Science Incubator Artist Residency was launched with Petra Bachmeier and Sean Gallero of the Chicago-based art collaborative, Luftwerk. Multiple exploratory conversations culminated in their three-day visit to the Bellevue University campus. Utilizing the Science Lab, the Sustainability Learning Lab, and the Art Studio, the Immersion Artist Residency afforded Luftwerk the opportunity to deepen their understanding of Dr. Kydnt’s algae research as a source of creative ideation and production. The Residency was robustly student-centered, with the participation of Professor Thomas’ Art Studio students, Dr. Kyndt’s Science students, and members of the Integrative Arts Club. In cross-disciplinary workshops, students extracted pigments from algae and native Nebraska flora and, through the technologies of chromatography and spectrography, began to pose the questions: Is there, in Art and in Science, resistance to or affirmation of coming into cognitive and creative contact with one another? Is there separation or union? One of the primary accomplishments of the Immersion Residency was that participating students came to grapple with these questions beyond the workshops in which they arose. Professor Thomas and Dr. Kyndt believe that they demonstrated to their students the basic contours of efforts in which the disciplinary distinction between Art and Science need not be rigid, nor that General Education courses need be understood as thorny, obligatory classes isolated from one another. The Residency provided a unique context and occasion to concretize the importance and the possibilities of Integrative General Education study.

The first generation collaboration culminated in a community event at the Benson Theatre exploring the power of Art+Science partnerships. The Founders and Collaborators examined the process of creating art with algae.