STEAM

Scientists and artists share a common language. It is a language of “questioning.” Both look at the world and question how things work and envision how they can work better. Questioning is how we build our understanding of the world around us and the subtleties of shades of meaning. It is how we achieve progress. It is how we measure our humanity. Most important, questioning is how we learn. Arts and sciences are both essential to our education system, not simplybecause they provide content, but because they require questioning. This is the
process that leads to innovation, which many thoughtful leaders in our country believe is the key to America’s competitive edge in the global marketplace.

It is fitting that we call our exhibition STEAM, as steam in its purist form is a powerful force of nature. As an exhibition, STEAM highlights and celebrates the common ground shared by scientists, technologists, engineers, mathematicians and artists. It is a testament to how both art and science contribute to a world in which creativity and innovation move the paradigm forward. As an acronym, STEAM is also being used by educators to describe an educational curriculum that includes a combination of STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and math) and the arts. As an arts council, we work hard to keep art in classrooms throughout Westchester because we believe it is a powerful learning tool and critical to a well-rounded education.

We live in an age of innovation. Every day new technologies, new theories, new breakthroughs, new designs, new devices, enter our lives promising to improve our day-to-day and bring us even more closely connected. In this exhibition, we present 31 artists, each of whom brings transformational perspective to our complex world. As curator, Patricia Miranda has assembled 45 works of art by artists who question, challenge, and re-envision the world in which we live – a world that is shrinking thanks to the ingenuity of artists and scientists. Together, their work celebrates creativity and enforces the notion that the arts are an undeniable part of future innovation. We are privileged to be working with both Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and the Westchester Community College Digital Arts Center on this journey, as well as our other many sponsors: Entergy, Con Edison, Pernod Ricard, Tompkins and The Liman Foundation.

Image: Observatory by STEAM artist Katherine Jackson