{"id":144,"date":"2019-06-28T15:59:37","date_gmt":"2019-06-28T19:59:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/staff\/lpratt\/?page_id=144"},"modified":"2025-07-17T14:27:04","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T18:27:04","slug":"art-science-and-outreach","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/staff\/lpratt\/art-science-and-outreach\/","title":{"rendered":"Art, Science and Outreach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Art, Science and Outreach<\/h1>\n

Science Outreach through Dance<\/h2>\n

Waves, tides, turbulent eddies, meandering ocean currents and other ocean motions reminds me of movement and dynamics of dance. I see this overlap as a great opportunity for communication with audiences outside of science and also motivation for the creation of new art.\u00a0 I have enjoyed many projects with choreographers interested in the ocean environment, including “Hoverdive” with Courtney Peix and her company Contrapose Dance,\u00a0 NYC Choreographer Jody Sperling’s creations for her company Time Lapse Dance,\u00a0 “La Mer” with Boston Ballet, and “SURGE” with Jessie Jean Stinnett and her company Boston Dance Theater.<\/p>\n\n\n

Teaching on the Dance\/Ocean Science interface<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Boston Magazine article on La Mer<\/p><\/div>\n

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BB Artistic Directory Mikko Nissinen, Choreographer Nanine Linning, and my colleague Dr. Claudia Cenedese in her lab at WHOI<\/p><\/div>\n

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WHOI Scientists Sarah Daas, Kirsten Meyer-Kaiser and Beckett Colson on our visit to Boston Ballet.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Jessie Jean Stinnett’s Boston Dance Theater during filming of a dance video for SURGE, a project on sea level rise. (L. Pratt photo, 2020)<\/p><\/div>\n

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Boston Dance Theater members Henoch Spinola and Olivia Coombs during filming at the WHOI David Cr. Laboratory. (L. Pratt photo, 2024)<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"HoverDive:

Poster for the Hoverdive Performance.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Dancers

Dancers Molly Schwartz and Maggie Foster from HoverDive.
(L. Pratt photo)<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Dancers

Dancers Maggie Foster, Nina Brindamour and Tony Tucker in Woods Hole. (Rebecca Forrester photo)<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Workshop

Workshop and performance in Woods Hole, July 2014. (Rebecca Forrester photo)<\/p><\/div>\n

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 <\/p>\n\n\t

Science and Visual Art<\/h2>\n

Many contemporary artists are making work about the environment and are seeking connections with scientists.\u00a0 \u00a0The Synergy<\/em> project has connected WHOI scientists and artists from the Art League of Rhode Island and led to exhibitions at the Boston Museum of Science and a number of regional art museums. \u00a0My work with artists Anastasia Azure and Ellen Beigert has to the creation of interesting sculptures, drawings and photos that abstract various elements of ocean circulation, including internal waves, chaotic fluid pathways, and turbulence.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"An\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\tAn artistic rendition of an invariant torus.\n (Photo by L. Pratt and A. Azure)\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Boston\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\tBoston Museum of Science exhibit of Anastasia’s chaos sculpture.\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Artistic\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\tArtistic rendition of a chaotic region surrounding a \n twisted torus.\n (Photo by L. Pratt and A. Azure)\n\t\t\t\t\"Ellen\n\t\tEllen Biegert drawing, 2023.\n\t\t\t\t\"\"\n

\n\t\tUsing Art\/Science To Reach Young Audiences\n\t<\/h2>\n\t

Art can be used to introduce scientific topics that some young people find to be intimidating, boring, or not relevant to their lives.\u00a0\u00a0 This process is particularly effective when the scientific concepts and the artistic practice are presented together. One example is the second law of thermodynamics, which we all experience every second of our lives, but which can be opaque when taught in a classroom.\u00a0 I have been lucky enough to be able collaborate with teachers at Boston Conservatory,\u00a0 The Pleasanton, TX,\u00a0 Junior High School, A Step Beyond in Escondido (CA),\u00a0 MIT, and the Boston Arts Academy in exploring this approach.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Courtney\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\tCourtney Peix with students at the Boston Arts Academy.\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Larry\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\tLarry talks to 7th grade students in Dawna Garvine’s STEM class at Pleasanton (TX) Junior High.\n\t\t\t\t\"Larry\n\t\tLarry answers questions from 5th grade student attending A Step Beyond, an Escondido (CA) that run after-school programs.\n\t\t\t\t\"Students\n\t\tStudents at A Step Beyond have fun reproducing the movement of ocean surface waves.\n\t\t\t\t\"\"\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Art, Science and Outreach Science Outreach through Dance Waves, tides, turbulent eddies, meandering ocean currents and other ocean motions reminds me of movement and dynamics of dance. I see this overlap as a great opportunity for communication with audiences outside of science and also motivation for the creation of new art.\u00a0 I have enjoyed many…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":205,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/staff\/lpratt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/144"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/staff\/lpratt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/staff\/lpratt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/staff\/lpratt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/205"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/staff\/lpratt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/staff\/lpratt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":408,"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/staff\/lpratt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/144\/revisions\/408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/staff\/lpratt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}