As part of the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory’s Art Meets Science Cafe series, I presented a history of artists and scientists working together on Mount Desert Island. Focused primarily on the art and artists accompanying scientists in the nineteenth and very early twentieth century, the talk provided a chronology of scientific work in Acadia and associated visual imagery.
The cafe’s theme relates to the fifth annual Art Meets Science exhibit, featuring science-inspired work by more than 40 local, national, and international artists. The lab found inspiration for their arts initiative in a manuscript-turned-presentation that I gave for their inaugural Star Point Gala, an annual fundraising event, in 2012. In that talk, I described the connections between artists, scientists, and conservation on Mount Desert Island, now documented in Historic Acadia National Park.
The art gallery is located within a laboratory building at the Salisbury Cove campus, providing a unique experience that weaves viewing works of art with glimpses of the scientific process. The 2016 exhibit theme honors the centennial of Acadia and the National Park Service.
Catherine Schmitt 