Scientists and Artists in Residency Together

So, a Scientist, an Artist, and a Writer Walk into a Forest... On a recent trip to the Cascade Head Experimental Forest, residents from the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology stood around a clump of moss, taking pictures, oohing and ahhing over its intricate details, pinching off pieces to study later, maybe to use in a drawing or a painting. The scientists in attendance, forest and stream ecologists, seemed less fascinated. They'd certainly seen plenty of moss up close before. But they watched the excited artists, interested in what they saw, how the artists looked at this thing that was so familiar to them. Later, the scientists tossed around terms as familiar to them as sibling names or state capitals. The artists interrupted, asked for definitions, explanations, scribbled the new information down for later use. It was a normal day at the Sitka Center, where artists and scientists live, learn and create together…. (First published on the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology website “Artist and Environmental Scientist Program”, Fall 2011.)

http://www.sitkacenter.org/3-1-1.html