The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), the CoLab Studio within the Michigan State University Museum, and the innovative STEAMpower Project are proud to collaborate within the MSUFCU Arts Power Up Arts Residency Program. The program is designed to promote collaboration, exploration, experimentation, and innovation within a supportive environment for the creation of new artworks at the intersection of art, science, and technology.
Located on the campus of Michigan State University, FRIB is a world-unique rare isotope research facility, enabling new science opportunities at the frontiers of nuclear structure, nuclear astrophysics, fundamental symmetries, and societal applications. FRIB supports a community of approximately 1800 scientists from around the world. The laboratory has a strong program for public engagement, and regularly collaborates with artists of various disciplines.
The MSU Museum is an innovative museum committed to promoting interdisciplinary collaboration, research, and education in the arts and sciences. The MSU Museum serves the Michigan State University community by facilitating and creating experiences at the nexus of the arts, sciences, cultures, and technologies. The CoLab Studio, a division for innovation and experimentation at the MSU Museum, develops methods for designing and implementing novel, transient and experimental programming, informal learning and community engagement.
MSUFCU Arts Power Up Arts Residency at the STEAMpower Project is designed to spark new research and modes of cross-disciplinary learning by bringing artists, researchers and graduate student collaborators together to address global challenges. Within this unique framework, a call for an artist in residency at FRIB will take place annually over the next 5 years. The CoLab Studio at the MSU Museum will exhibit new artworks created as a result of the residencies.
For the first edition of this call, the organisers invite visual artists from any background or medium to apply for this residency program during which they will immerse themselves in the FRIB laboratory’s environment, and interact with its scientists, students, and staff, as well as engage with the dynamic and vibrant arts communities at CoLab and STEAMpower. The residency program fosters a culture of experimentation, innovation, and pushing the boundaries of traditional artistic practices, with a strong emphasis on interdisciplinary exchange and exploration.
The theme for this first call is nuclear astrophysics, one of the major research directions at FRIB, which aims to understand how the properties of atomic nuclei shape the nature of stars, supernova explosions, and the chemical elements that make up the universe and ultimately enable the formation of planets and life. Artists with a keen interest in science, technology, interdisciplinary practices, experimentation, innovation, and engaging with diverse communities are encouraged to apply. This call is especially reaching for artistic proposals of interactive visual artworks that explore the broader societal or philosophical context of FRIB’s nuclear astrophysics research.
The selected artist-in-residence will spend at least three, and up to four months on the campus of Michigan State University, located in East Lansing, Michigan.
The program offers the selected artist the following financial support and conditions:
- Travel expenses to/from their current location to East Lansing, Michigan.
- Accommodation within a fixed budget for up to 4 months in East Lansing, Michigan.
- Total stipend of $20,000 USD (before taxes).
- Production costs of up to $15,000 for the new work of art.
- Facilitate interactions with other artists in residence at MSU, and in networking with other artists in Michigan
- Additional support for child care might be available within a fixed budget of $1000 USD per month.
