My first faculty position was at Art Center College of Design, where I got to attend the amazing exhibitions that director Stephen Nowlin put on at the Alyce de Roulet Williamson Gallery. I even got to collaborate -with a geologist and an artist- on an installation there! I was always inspired by the exhibitions in that space.
Ten years later, in October of 2014... I found myself part of a group of faculty looking at floor plans for a new engineering space at UST. Where the plans showed an empty lobby, I saw a chance to create our own exhibition space. Amazingly, the dean and some generous donors went along with the idea, and the students in my Playful Learning Lab and I set out to figure out what our first exhibition should be. As someone who is passionate about design, engineering, and sustainability, I desperately wanted to do an exhibition on the work of the Long Now Foundation. Thus, I was delighted when the team at the Long Now agreed to loan us some artifacts, and help us with the exhibition.
I am happy to announce that, as of September 8, our exhibition "Designed to Last: A Look at the Projects of the Long Now Foundation" is now open at UST. On display you can see:
- a Rosetta Disk
- portions of 10,000 year clock prototypes (including a solar synchronizer, a time cam, core samples from the clock build site, and more)
- a UST Library based on the Long Now's Library for Civilization. Each book in the bookshelf includes a bookmark telling which UST staff/faculty member suggested the book, and why. At the end of the exhibition, UST students will be invited to choose a book to take home.
Since our lab motto is "We Play Well With Others," we used the opening event (photos here!) as a chance to bring in some of our collaborators. Thus, we had exhibition related food made by Chef Eric Rivera and an orrery cake by Chef Kate Sigel, music/tech demos by tenor Shahzore Shah, custom serviceware by undergrads in the lab, and Squishy circuits to play with.
On Tuesday, November 3, at 7 pm , Dr. Laura Welcher, director of the Rosetta Project, will be giving a lecture (open to the public) at the University of St. Thomas. (Follow me on Twitter, or email me, for details about this and other exhibition related events.)
Want to visit the exhibition with a group or for a private tour? Great! Email me, and we'll have one of the student curators contact you.