Art and science merge in The Synergy Project at URI’s Bay Campus

August 15, 2024
“Sensual Data” by Cynthia Beth Rubin, in collaboration with URI Professor of Oceanography Susanne Menden-Deuer and Andria Miller, ’23.

Aug. 15, 2024

Art League RI and the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography are featuring the works of artists and scientists in a new exhibition titled “The Synergy Project: A Collaboration of Art and Science,” from Aug. 15 through Sept. 20 at Studio Blue on the URI Narragansett Bay Campus. 

With its goal to communicate oceanographic research to wider audiences through art exhibits and events, The Synergy Project has paired artists across many mediums with scientists from URI and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution since 2020. This third Synergy Project group exhibition features 50 pieces from returning artists and scientists as well as new work exploring new topics. Each exhibition is an opportunity for guests to learn about ocean science in an engaging and unconventional way, prompting new conversations about science and its importance in climate regulation and ocean health with communities near and far.

The Synergy Project is a continuation of the ideas generated in the original Synergy program, created in 2012 as a partnership between artists and scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Art League RI has since brought the two-year project back to life to translate science into art and communicate scientists’ research in new ways.

The artist and scientist teams represented in “The Synergy Project:A Collaboration of Art and Science” exhibitionare: 

  • Artist Uli Brahmst and scientist Michelle Hauer, Ph.D. candidate, URI Graduate School of Oceanography
  • Artist Marcy Cohen and Sujata Murty, Ph.D., graduate of the MIT-WHOI Joint Program, and Carolina Camargo, postdoctoral investigator, WHOI
  • Artist Sharon Cutts and scientists Coleen Suckling, URI associate professor in sustainable aquaculture; Justin Sankey, Ph.D. candidate, URI Graduate School of Oceanography; and Christopher Lane, URI professor in biological sciences
  • Artist Cynthia DiDonato and scientist Michelle Hauer, Ph.D. candidate, URI Graduate School of Oceanography 
  • Artist Victoria Guerina and Galen Wilcox, Ph.D. candidate, MIT-WHOI Joint Program, and Sara Gonzales, Ph.D, postdoctoral scholar, WHOI
  • Artist Laurie Kaplowitz and Clarissa Karthauser, Ph.D., postdoctoral scholar, WHOI
  • Artist Karen LaFleur and musician Nancy Tucker and scientist Lukas Taenzer, Ph.D. candidate, MIT-WHOI Joint Program
  • Artist Saberah Malik and Max Jahns, Ph.D. candidate, MIT-WHOI Joint Program
  • Artist Keith Prue and Suzanna Clark, Ph.D., graduate of the MIT-WHOI Joint Program, and Katie Squires, Ph.D candidate, MIT-WHOI Joint Program
  • Artist Betsy Ritz and Colette Kelly, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow, WHOI
  • Artist Cynthia Beth Rubin and Suzanne Menden-Deuer, Ph.D., professor of oceanography, URI Graduate School of Oceanography, and Andria Miller, ‘23, M.S. graduate of the URI Graduate School of Oceanography
  • Artist Hong Xu, Ph.D, and Caroline Ummenhoffer, Ph.D., associate scientist in physical oceanography, WHOI, and Svenja Ryan, Ph.D., assistant scientist in physical oceanography, WHOI. 

“The Synergy Project:A Collaboration of Art and Science” is free and open to the public. The Studio Blue gallery is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Coastal Institute Building on the URI Bay Campus, 218 South Ferry Road in Narragansett. The exhibition will also be open Sept. 7 during Science Saturday. A reception featuring presentations from the artists and scientists will take place on Sept. 12 from 4:30 to 6 p.m.

This story was written by Angelina Rodgers, intern with Art League RI.