The Synergy Project

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Due to increased demand, we have reopened the Synergy Artist Application process!  There is still time to submit your application to participate in The Synergy Project and collaborate with a scientist-partner! Please click on the button above to access the application form.

Art League RI is currently accepting ARTIST APPLICATIONS for the 2025–2026 Synergy Project. Please read the details below, where you will find application requirements and a link to the application form. For questions about the application process, please contact nancym@artleagueri.org.

The Synergy Project is an art and ocean/environmental science collaboration between Art League RI (ALRI), the University of Rhode Island’s College of Environment and Life Sciences, Graduate School of Oceanography, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Designed as an innovative initiative, the Synergy Project seeks to enhance public engagement with science through art. Artists and scientists form partnerships through an extensive interview process designed to stimulate the “synergy” between the artist and scientist.

The Synergy Project is a collaboration of artists and scientists who collaborate to create art that communicates scientific discoveries in our oceans and environment. Artists do not need to have a science background to participate.

Recruitment of a new group of artists to participate in this exciting program is starting now! An application form can be accessed HERE.

Application Requirements: 1) Complete Application; 2) CV or Resume; 3) Artwork Samples; 4) A $50 application fee grants a one-year “Synergy Artist Membership” in ALRI. The application fee will be billed separately, and the fee is not required for current ALRI members.

Why would artists want to participate in The Synergy Project?

Artists participating in this program will gain insights into their scientist-partners’ research through regular conversations and will collaborate to design a project that communicates the research in an artistic form. Artists are encouraged to think deeply about the parallels between the scientific method and the creative process and independently find opportunities to learn more about their partner-scientist’s research topic.

Synergy artists have expressed how participating in the Synergy Project has affected both their personal and professional lives.

“Being part of the Synergy Project changed the trajectory of my art practice. The collaborative process with my partner scientists challenged and enriched my artistic storytelling in ways I never imagined… It has been gratifying to see my artwork become an effective tool for climate science conversations with multiple audiences, including children, scientists, museum docents, and climate science activists.” — Deb Ehrens • https://debehrens.com/abouttheartist

“The collaboration helped me see things in new ways, because I was required to look through a different lens… But perhaps the more important outcome was that it prodded me to deeper thought about how my art is understood, provoked new ideas about perception, and enhanced my ability to communicate abstract thought.” — Heather Stivison • https://www.heatherstivisonart.com/

Project TImeline

September 2025 through late fall 2026

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Dr. Clarissa Karthäuser and Larie Kaplowitz, one of the artist-scientist pairs from The Synergy Project, will be hosting a book reading and art display of their collaboration, Marine Snow, A Lyric Meditation. Please join us on Wednesday, April 23, at 5:30 at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's Redfield Auditorium to meet Clarissa and Laurie and learn how they came together to create science inspired artwork.

About Marine Snow, A Lyric Meditation

The book features paintings accompanied by text that traces the journey of marine snow as it travels from the surface of the ocean to the sea floor. Karthauser’s scientific work combines biochemistry with microbiology to gain a deeper understanding of carbon cycling in the ocean and the processes that drive it. The duo decided to envision marine snow as a woman and personify the life cycle of organic matter as it travels from the ocean’s surface to the sea floor. Clarissa wrote the narrative and designed the text pages. The narrative, a meditation that is lyric and elegiac in tone, accompanies Laurie's paintings to evoke birth, growth, and eternal sleep.

When: Wednesday, April 23, 5:30 pm
Where: Redfield Auditorium at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 45 Water Street, Woods Hole, MA

Art League RI is pleased to offer two free drawing workshops in March hosted by artist Cynthia Beth Ruben.  The workshops are in conjunction with The Synergy Project: A Collaboration of Art and Science Exhibition at URI's Graduate School of Oceanography. No prior drawing experience is needed and supplies for the in-person sessions will be provided.  Registration is required by clicking HERE.  Registrants will have the option to select either an in-person session at the School of Oceanography or participate via Zoom. 

(Zoom participants will be emailed a list of supplies needed to participate).

Dates: Monday, March 10 & Wednesday, March 19, 3:30 – 5:30 pm
Location:
Coastal Institute Building (brown shingles),
Graduate School of Oceanography,
University of Rhode Island,
218 South Ferry Road,
Narragansett, RI

Questions? Contact Ellen Matezans at ematesanz@artleagueri.org

The Synergy Project, an innovative art and marine science project managed by Art League RI, was introduced to URI’s Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO) community through two public events in the past two weeks.

On Saturday, September 7th Synergy artists and scientists participated in the GSO’s Science Saturday, a day of exhibits, conversations, and activities focused on marine science and exploration.    

On Thursday, September 12th, a welcome reception for the exhibition “The Synergy Project: A Collaboration of Art and Science” was held in the GSO’s Studio Blue. 

Artist Laurie Kaplowitz commented,

“The show is impressive! A dazzling array of colors, shapes, and materials on the walls, screens, and pedestals! It was very satisfying for me to see the attendees at the reception viewing the work and hearing their impressions. For many who came, the Synergy project is a new and surprising way to understand the important link between art and science.”

The exhibition run has been extended to March 27, 2025, at URI’s GSO Studio Blue. 218 South Ferry Road, Narragansett, RI.  Gallery hours are Monday – Friday, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm.