In the spring of 2012,
CNDLS partnered with the Department of Art and Art History to invite ceramic artist Joan Lederman to exhibit her work on campus and to serve as an Artist-in-Residence.

The exhibit, titled Where the Seafloor Melts: Ocean Mud, Ceramic Change, and Connected Minds, explored integrative learning at the nexus of art and science. During the semester, Joan mentored six undergraduate Integrative Arts Fellows as they created commissioned works of art in response to Joan’s work, her artistic process, and her use of unconventional materials.

During this project I had to become comfortable with trial and error... I learned the importance of not being afraid to make mistakes, which I believe is a valuable idea to carry through to other fields as well, not just in art.

Taylor Bothwell, Integrative Arts Fellow

Lederman Integrative Arts Fellowship

The six undergraduate fellows formed a community of artists, sharing reflections, questions, and responses to creative prompts on a blog. They brought a wide range of skills and interests in various artistic fields, including photography, drawing, painting, printmaking, collage, acting, directing, and movement. At the end of the fellowship, their work was exhibited at a showcase event.

Over the course of the project, there were various experiments and choices to be made. There was quite a lot of personal growth that resulted from it—but that can be scary. I don’t think that we would have made the same bold decisions if we thought we would not be received by such a supportive and open-minded community.

Lena Landegger, Integrative Arts Fellow

Art and Science

At an exhibition opening event, artist Joan Lederman and special guests Barbara Berrie (National Gallery of Art), Kaveh Jorabchi (Department of Chemistry, Georgetown University), and Melanie Kehoss (Visiting Artist, Georgetown University) explored integrations between art and science.

Joan Lederman shares her thoughts on time, change, and experimentation and explores how they have informed her creative process.