Art + Science + Community

Graduate Students Benefit as Engaged Arts and Humanities Scholars

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 20:20:59 +0000

Graduate Students Benefit as Engaged Arts and Humanities Scholars Arielle Wiedenbeck Fri, 02/21/2025 - 13:20

Alexandra Wilson

Since its launch in 2018, the Engaged Arts and Humanities (EAH) Graduate Student Scholars Program at CU has given 40 students the opportunity and resources to combine their academic disciplines, the tools of the arts and humanities, and their unique individual interests and apply them to public and community-engaged scholarship projects.

“I believe the program’s focus on lived experience, equity-oriented partnerships and mutually beneficial community-engaged scholarship has been key in creating an inclusive community of learners,” said Lisa Schwartz, Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship Program Manager and EAH founder.

The two-year fellowship, now co-administered by the Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship (PACES) and the Center for the Humanities & the Arts (CHA), encourages students to work collaboratively with communities to create meaningful, lasting change and allows students to broaden their networks on and off campus. Students co-design mutually beneficial projects with community partners, receiving a $5,000 stipend over two years and up to $1,000 in project funding.

Professor Jennifer Ho, CHA’s faculty director, works with the CHA team and Schwartz to oversee and implement the program. “I’m thrilled that the CHA is partnering with PACES on this program. When Lisa Schwartz first told me about the program, I could see the vitality and mutual intellectual and creative aims of having graduate students use their expertise in service to community-engaged projects. Lisa’s leadership of the program is part of the secret sauce to its success, as is the passion of the EAH scholars for work outside the traditional walls of academia.”

EAH Fellow Amy Hoagland’s 2021-22 project with CU Science Discovery and Cal-Wood Education Center serves as a prime example of the program’s impact on the surrounding community and her future as an artist and advocate for environmental justice. Combining her passions for art and science, Hoagland initiated a series of outdoor events with youth and families, providing opportunities for the “mourning, celebration and collective recognition of the impact of climate change.”

Hoagland creates artwork to “provoke thought and change in people’s relationship with the surrounding landscape.” While continuing her work inspired by EAH Scholars, Hoagland received a 2022 Windgate Fellowship for sustainable art presented by Honoring the Future.

“I cannot express my gratitude for EAH Scholars and Lisa Schwartz’s mentorship. It has all been incredibly impactful on my practice. It will positively impact my future projects, too,” said Hoagland.

A key aspect of EAH Scholars is the experience of selecting, interviewing and developing a relationship with a mentor who is a community-engaged scholar within the university or broader community (Read the EAH scholar mentor interviews here). PhD student Idowu Odeyemi shared his experience working with Professor Briana Toole, founder and director of the Corrupt the Youth program.

“Professor Toole’s community greatly intersects with mine; it was very easy to form a connection with her. She was helpful in terms of how I can develop my ideas for the sort of community work that I want my project to be about,” said Idowu.

A number of scholars have incorporated their work with EAH into their MFA thesis and PhD research. Brenda Aguirre Ortega is one such student. Through sharing and developing her ideas with members of the EAH cohort, as well as securing additional funding, Aguirre-Ortega’s multitude of interests evolved into her establishing and co-facilitating an after-school program at Columbine Elementary School, combining her passions of teaching, music composition and mathematics. In an interview discussing her experience with community-engaged scholarship, Aguirre-Ortega emphasized the program’s impact on her.

“At first, I only knew that I wanted to create a project in a school and that it would have something to do with music production,” said Aguirre-Ortega. “The idea became more tangible when I started sharing it with the EAH cohort. We were all beginning projects, and we helped each other develop ideas.”

EAH Scholars is now welcoming new graduate students for the 2025-2027 cohort. Visit the program’s webpage to learn more about deadlines, eligibility and the application process.

Since 2018, the Engaged Arts and Humanities Graduate Student Scholars program has given 40 students the opportunity and resources to apply tools of the arts and humanities to public and community-engaged scholarship projects.

The program is now welcoming new graduate students for the 2025-2027 cohort. Visit the program webpage.

Traditional

Harveen Gill leads a group meditation during a presentation on her work as an Engaged Arts and Humanities Scholar at Research and Innovation Week.

White

Harveen Gill leads a group meditation during a presentation on her work as an Engaged Arts and Humanities Scholar at Research and Innovation Week. (Photo Credit: Arielle Wiedenbeck)

Announcing the Data + Art + Science for Youth Fellow Teams

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Tue, 28 Jan 2025 20:24:20 +0000

Announcing the Data + Art + Science for Youth Fellow Teams Arielle Wiedenbeck Tue, 01/28/2025 - 13:24

Gretchen Minekime

The Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship and CU Science Discovery are pleased to announce the 2024-25 cohort of Data + Art + Science for Youth Fellows.

The fellows consist of teams of K-12 art and STEM teachers and university scientists. Teachers will lead teams to develop data-driven art and science activities for K-12 classrooms and for the public in partnership with museums or libraries.

Learn more about the program and teams of fellows here.

K-12 Teacher and Scientist Fellows

Byers

Natalia Chavez
PhD Student
Department of Biology, University of New Mexico

Tiffeny O’Dell
High School Teacher, CTE Health Science Coordinator
Byers Jr/Sr High School

Emily Reynebeau
PhD Student
Department of Biology, University of New Mexico

Shatzie Wardall
Family and Consumer Science, Digital Photographer
Byers Jr/Sr High School

Carbondale

Tayla Dornbush
Art Teacher
Carbondale Community School

Ben Livneh
Associate Professor
Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering

Cyndy Miller
Math & Science Teacher
Carbondale Community School

Colorado Springs

Cathy Banoczi
Art Teacher
Bristol Elementary School

Jared Collins
PhD Student
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR)

Michael Gooseff
Professor
Department of Civil Environmental and Architectural Engineering

Cherie Lane
Teacher
Bristol Elementary School

Anna Wright
PhD Student
Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR)

Gunnison

Rain Bodine
1-5th STEAM Teacher
Gunnison Community School

Noah Molotch
Associate Professor
Geography Department

Sarah Strong
Teacher
Gunnison Elementary School

Longmont

Amanda Aves-Linder
Photography Teacher
New Meridian High School

Brandon Grossman
Science Teacher
New Meridian High School

Keith Musselman
Assistant Professor
Geography Department

Lyons

Bryan Gager
Undergraduate Student
Geography Department

Adeline Kelly
Professional Research Assistant
Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR)

Baiba Lennard
Media Tech, Blended Library
Lyons Elementary School

Isabelle A. Oleksy
Assistant Professor
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Abby Ross
PhD Student
Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR)

Sarah Wegert
STEM Coordinator/Teacher
Lyons Elementary School

Northglenn

Brittany Brewer
5th Grade Teacher
North Mor Elementary

Edgart Flores
Post-Doctoral Student
Department of Geological Sciences

Danielle Scotland
K-5 Visual Arts Teacher
North Mor Elementary

Julio Sepúlveda
Associate Professor
Department of Geological Sciences

Salida

Holly Barnard
Professor
Geography Department

John Callen
Educator
The Crest Academy

Samantha Lane Bahn
Educator
The Crest Academy

Off

Traditional

White

Framing the Climate Conversation Through Art, Science and Community Collaborations

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Thu, 30 May 2024 17:35:58 +0000

Framing the Climate Conversation Through Art, Science and Community Collaborations Arielle Wiedenbeck Thu, 05/30/2024 - 11:35

Jane Appel

Coloradans are experiencing climate change. Residents face challenges like fires, drought and poor water and air quality.

The Colorado Arts Science Environment Program’s (CASE) main goal is to address critical environmental and social issues across Colorado. CASE is doing so through an exhibition called Coloradans and Our Shared Environment in Times of Challenge and Change—a collaborative exhibition that brings together �� scientists and artists from various parts of the state.

The people involved in CASE—a program of the Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship— were asked to produce a unique representation of these issues using art and science to transcend climate change debates and showcase the deep connection that Coloradans have with the natural world.

For the exhibition, eight teams of two, one artist and one scientist, produced a final piece highlighting a climate issue. One group—artist Hannah Taylor and CU scientist Noah Molotch—explored what warming winters meant to a community reliant on snow. They studied Dillion Reservoir’s role in Colorado’s waterways by examining how water levels, stream banks and ice structures change. The team’s final project is a 2D installation of reconstructed maps and frozen ink washes sewn together to mirror what earlier snowmelt means for infrastructure and mountain communities.

The exhibition places emphasis on lived experiences. To tie this into the final project, Taylor hosted a printmaking workshop with students at Summit High School. The students carved and printed snow water equivalent maps illustrating the general pattern of melting through the spring season in Summit County. Students also produced art drawn from their own experience seeing the Dillion Reservoir over the years.

Artist Jocelyn Catterson facilitated community-engagement by asking her community in San Luis Valley what environmental issues were most important there.

Catterson took what she learned about her community’s lived experience, combined it with related scientific data and told that story.

It was important to Catterson and her scientist partner from ��, Holly Barnard, that the community did not feel exploited during the process. They wanted to make sure it was an equal partnership with benefit for both the community and the CASE team.

Lisa Schwartz, lead facilitator and designer of CASE and community program manager in the Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship (PACES), stated, “In our office [PACES], we really care about having collaboration across the Front Range and Western Slope. The idea behind having all eight [CASE] teams focus on something different is to show that these issues are not just focused in one part of the state; they are all connected.”

Schwartz’s emphasis on connectivity is important to the locations the exhibition is presented. It is traveling around Colorado so as many people as possible can view it. The first exhibition was at the Colorado Capitol Building in Denver.

“With the CASE fellowship, we had a shared objective to create art for the Capitol with the understanding that art at the Capitol is public and meant to be accessible to anybody,” said Schwartz. “The Capitol also symbolizes the shared space [Colorado] we are representing.”

The exhibition, accompanied by workshops and events, then moved to Breck Create in Breckenridge; Mesa County Libraries in Grand Junction; the Creative Industries Summit in Pueblo; and CU’s campus in the Sustainability, Energy and Environment Community (SEEC) building. Next, the art was featured at The Four Corners Climate Summit on April 27 at Fort Lewis College in Durango. The summit was designed to bring together national policymakers, scientists, artists and community members to discuss climate change in Colorado.

“CASE’s involvement encourages a deeper understanding of how historical and cultural contexts shape current environmental issues and solutions,” said Cory Pillen, member of the summit’s planning committee.

The Climate Summit placed a large emphasis on lived experience because telling people’s stories pulls listeners’ heartstrings and gets them more involved in solving issues like climate change.

“You frequently hear of academics and science existing in the ivory tower where information isn’t accessible to the public, and folks don’t see the connection between the science and their hometown issues. So, using community-engaged techniques can break down those barriers,” said Barnard.

Using a community’s experience allows them to be more involved in the process, which results in them being more involved in the outcome. It also brings a new perspective into the mix, which can refresh the research and remind scientists that there are real people involved in these issues and in need of solutions.

Regarding CASE and the Climate Summit’s use of interdisciplinary approaches to talk about climate change, Catterson said, “You know everybody has a different way of thinking and functioning in the world. So, if we only teach and explain things from one perspective, you’re missing out on the whole web of the complex issue, and potentially a way of engaging a person that wouldn’t otherwise be engaged.”

Coloradans and Our Shared Environment in Times of Challenge and Change will continue to tour Colorado in 2024-2025, including workshops and hands-on activities to activate the art with audiences. For more information, visit the exhibition’s webpage.

Off

Traditional

White

Art and social justice focus of community series

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Thu, 27 Aug 2020 17:00:00 +0000

Art and social justice focus of community series Arielle Wiedenbeck Thu, 08/27/2020 - 11:00

Sue Postema Scheeres

Social justice and the arts take center stage this fall as part of a virtual public series featuring �� and community artists and educators.

“Dialogues on Art and Social Justice,” a series sponsored by the Boulder County Arts Allianceand ��’s Office for Outreach and Engagement, brings together Black, Indigenous and Latinx artists from campus and the community. Each event will feature artists in conversation with each other about their practice, experience and perspective on being an artist in the United States and how their work engages with social justice.

“We wanted to create space with these amazing artists and educators to reflect together on what it means to incorporate their lived experience into their art,” said Lisa H. Schwartz, the office’s community outreach program manager. “The intent is for the audience to learn from the conversation between the two artists as they talk about their art, identities and commitments to social justice.”

These online conversations will include a presentation as well as time for audience questions. Registration for each virtual event is required; suggested donation is $5.

Helanius Wilkins, who will participate in a virtual conversation with Holly Bass about bridging art and social justice on Sept. 30.

Unapologetically Bridging Art & Social Justice

September 30 • 5:30–6:45 p.m.

Click here to register for this Zoom meeting

�� Assistant Professor of Dance Helanius J. Wilkins and Holly Bass, a performance and visual artist, writer and director from Washington, D.C. will discuss how their identities and experiences shape their performance practices that are rooted in resilience and resistance.

Helanius Wilkins, a native of Lafayette, Louisiana, is an award-winning choreographer, performance artist, innovator, and educator. To date, he has choreographed and directed more than 60 works, including two critically acclaimed musical productions for Washington, D.C.’s Studio Theater. He founded the long running EDGEWORKS Dance Theater, an all-male dance company of predominantly African American men in Washington D.C. Currently, he is based in Boulder, where he is associate chair of the theatre and dance department and a �� assistant professor of dance. He is a member of the National Board of Directors of the American College Dance Association for the Northwest region and was appointed in 2018 by Governor Jared Polis to the Colorado Council on Creative Industries.

Holly Bass is a multidisciplinary performance and visual artist, writer and director. Her work has been presented at the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian Museums, the Seattle Art Museum, Art Basel Miami Beach (Project Miami Fair) and the South African State Theatre. Her visual art work spans photography, installation, video and performance and can be found in the collections of the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the D.C. Art Bank, as well as private collections. She has published poems in numerous journals and anthologies. A gifted and dedicated teaching artist, she directed a year-round creative writing and performance program for adjudicated youth in Washington D.C.’s Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services as well as facilitating workshops nationally and internationally. She is currently the national director for Turnaround Arts at the Kennedy Center, a program which uses the arts strategically to transform schools facing severe inequities.

Heartwork: Indigenous Social Justice Perspectives

October 14 • 5:30–6:45 p.m.

Click here to register for this Zoom meeting

Tanaya Winder, director of �� Upward Bound, singer, songwriter and poet, together with Natani Notah, an interdisciplinary artist and educator will discuss how their art practice engages social justice through heartwork and the lens of Diné womanhood.

Tanaya Winder is an author, singer, songwriter, poet, motivational speaker and educator who comes from an intertribal lineage of Southern Ute, Pyramid Lake Paiute, Diné and Duckwater Shoshone Nations where she is an enrolled citizen. She is also African American. Through her presentations, Winder blends storytelling, singing and spoken word to teach about different expressions of love, emphasizing the importance of “heartwork” or the life path one is meant to follow by using gifts and passions. She is the director of ��’s Upward Bound program, where she has served hundreds of Indigenous youth. She also co-founded Sing Our Rivers Red’s MMIW earring exhibit. Her specialties include: youth & women empowerment, healing trauma through art, creative writing workshops and mental wellness advocacy.

Natani Notah is an interdisciplinary artist and educator. She is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation (Diné) and part Lakota and Cherokee. Her work has been exhibited at the Tucson Desert Art Museum, the Gas Gallery in Los Angeles, the Holland Project in Reno, the Mana Contemporary in Chicago and SOMArts Cultural Center in San Francisco. Her current art practice explores contemporary Native American identity through the lens of Diné (Navajo) womanhood. Inspired by acts of decolonization, environmental justice, Indigenous feminism and futurism, Notah’s work dares to imagine a world where Native sensibilities are magnified.

DragTivism: Queered Visions of Possible Futures

October 21 • 5:30–6:45 p.m.

Click here to register for this Zoom meeting

�� School of Education Assistant Professor José Ramón Lizárraga and renowned drag queen, educator and activist Persia will discuss how drag as a political artform mediates learning and transformation across communities.

José Ramón Lizárraga is an assistant professor of learning sciences and human development at �� and also a practicing visual artist and musician. As a learning scientist, Lizárraga uses ethnographic, video and multimodal research methods to investigate the role that social networks, television and other digital new media play in learning for both teachers and youth. Currently, his work examines the collaborative practices of teachers and adolescents in virtual and in-person learning. Lizárraga is an experienced designer and instructor of hybrid/blended (online/in-person) and online undergraduate and graduate teacher education courses. He has taught these courses at UC Berkeley, San Francisco State University and ��.

Persia is a San Francisco Bay Area drag queen, artist, educator and activist. They came into the national spotlight when their music video Google Google Apps Apps (a satirical commentary on gentrification and displacement) became viral. Currently, Persia is an ambassador for Drag Out the Vote.

Traditional

White

Art + Science + Community

Graduate Students Benefit as Engaged Arts and Humanities Scholars

Related Articles

Announcing the Data + Art + Science for Youth Fellow Teams

Off

Framing the Climate Conversation Through Art, Science and Community Collaborations

Off

Art and social justice focus of community series

Unapologetically Bridging Art & Social Justice

Heartwork: Indigenous Social Justice Perspectives

DragTivism: Queered Visions of Possible Futures

Related Articles