About Art + Invention 2009

Art + Invention is a campus-wide arts programming initiative for the 2009–2010 year, designed to infuse the processes and values of artistic inquiry and creative discovery into the fabric of campus life and learning. The program is a collaboration of SiCa, Stanford Lively Arts, and a host of partners, including campus arts organizations, academic departments, student groups, and off-campus arts institutions. Art + Invention marks Stanford’s inaugural year of themed campus programming, drawing on and highlighting the University’s unique strengths—imagination, innovation, and interdisciplinary thinking. The programming theme applies to public events and campus-based projects, courses, residencies, research, seminars, and symposia.

As a centerpiece of the Art + Invention theme programming, Stanford Lively Arts has commissioned jazz trumpeter/composer Dave Douglas and experimental filmmaker Bill Morrison to embark on a year-long campus residency, drawing on the unique resources at Stanford to create a new collaborative music and film work, and mentoring students across campus in creating their own works in music, sound, film and video. Douglas and Morrison premiere their newly-commissioned film and live music collaboration Spark of Being in conjunction with a festival of Stanford student film and music works in April 2010.

Art + Invention will also showcase projects across campus within the art, engineering, human biology, and music departments, as well as the Creative Writing program and the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA). Programming will also include presentations, exhibitions, and public programs by campus entities such as the Cantor Arts Center and the Institute for Diversity in the Arts (IDA). Many other artists visiting campus during fall 2009 will also contribute to Art + Invention programs, including choreographers Ann Carlson and Ralph Lemon, filmmaker Mary Ellen Strom, composer Steve Reich, performance artist Laurie Anderson, sound artist DJ Olive, kinetic sculptor Reuben Margolin, data visualization artist Aaron Koblin, and new music ensembles Kronos Quartet and So Percussion.

Art + Invention programs are made possible in part by the Creative Campus Innovations Grant, awarded to Stanford Lively Arts by the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.