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Behind the collaboration . . .
Pietro Perona and Stephen Nowlin, co-creators of the NEURO exhibition.
       Photo Credit: Courtesy of Art Center College of Design
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The Collaboration behind NEURO
A confluence of thought and experience

In 2000, National Science Foundation’s Engineering Research Center for Neuromorphic Systems Engineering (CNSE) at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena redesigned and revitalized its outreach programs to find new ways to creatively present the center’s research to the public at large. Researchers at the center develop technologies that mimic the senses and perceptions of humans and animals and are given a wide degree of freedom to devise a way to translate the nature of their findings for the public. Outreach is a part of every NSF Engineering Research Center’s mission.

CNSE researchers decided to collaborate with the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, which has a reciprocal class enrollment program with Caltech. The teamwork resulted in the exhibition NEURO, a bridge between contemporary art and CNSE’s research into the workings of the mind.

Co-sponsored by NSF and the Art Center College of Design, NEURO brings Pietro Perona (left in photo), director of CNSE and professor of electrical engineering, and Jill Andrews, director of educational outreach at Caltech, together with Stephen Nowlin (right in photo), artist and director of Art Center's Alyce de Roulet Williamson Gallery. Nowlin has been advocating science-art collaborations for the past decade. The team partnered with more than two dozen artists and researchers to produce the show’s six exhibits.

Einstein’s Dilemma appears at Caltech’s faculty club, the Athenaeum, while SCIANCE, perpetual perceptual, INFILTRATE, CHEESE, and BODY ELECTRIC appear at Art Center’s Williamson Gallery. Times and locations are below.

Alyce de Roulet Williamson Gallery
Art Center College of Design
1700 Lida Street
Pasadena, California 91103-1999
(626) 396-2446
Hours:
Tuesday through Sunday, 12 noon to 5 p.m.
Friday, 12 noon to 9 p.m.
Closed Mondays and holidays

www.artcenter.edu/williamson

Athenaeum
The Athenaeum is a members-only club, but the exhibit in the foyer is open for viewing by the public
California Institute of Technology
551 S. Hill Avenue
Pasadena, California 91125
(626) 395-8200
Hours:
Monday through Friday, 12 noon to 5 p.m.
Closed Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays

www.its.caltech.edu/~ath
 
 
 
     
 

 
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