Artists in Residence
This Summer, the Rice Rivers Center welcomes several artists in residence to the field station. This year, artists including Jen Bockerman, Sara Wilson McKay, Sterling Hundley, and Jason Bennett will engage community members, faculty, and students to highlight how creative processes can enhance science.
Dr. Sara Wilson McKay and Jen Bockerman will bring prior experiences using art educating to enhance the clinical reasoning skills of nursing student to several weekend experiences at the Rice Rivers Center. Geared towards local teachers of all levels and disciplines, these weekend workshops will provide attendees with art-based professional development activities. Bockerman will also collaborate with VCU students and Summer scholars in the practice of field journaling which increases observational skills, improves memory, and encourages creativity and critical thinking.
Simultaneously, Sterling Hundley and Jason Bennett will host Applied Arts Lab (AAL) training workshops where VCU students and faculty develop creative investigation skills that challenge them to push scientific research beyond words and language by using visual communication. In a recent TEDxVCU event, Hundley states "As you sit still long enough, you start to notice patterns, and the chaos becomes more understandable". The Applied Arts Lab training workshops will bring forth this principle when working with students and faculty, introducing them to observational practices grounded in the arts.