Making Space is an interdisciplinary multi-day workshop about space and society where we use art to explore scientific concepts and humanity’s relationship to the solar system.
Participants learn how scientists use spacecraft observations to explore other worlds, how to access data from missions, do collaborative discussion and art activities, and learn techniques in creating science and data-driven art. This workshop is about connecting with the cosmos, learning by creating, art and science as parallel pursuits, and the role art can play in space exploration. It targets an adult audience with backgrounds in art and making, science/engineering, or education.
Each workshop has science theme, featuring planetary scientists, astronomers, and engineers as guests speakers to help ignite our curiosity. Art-making activities utilize a range of mediums, and most are flexible allowing participants to explore using either new or familiar methods. We will accommodate any art medium that is practical within venue constraints.
Registration will be capped at ~30 participants to maintain a collaborative, intimate atmosphere. See Logistics for info and the agenda for the upcoming event, and the Overview for general info about workshop content. Scroll down for information about the instructor. Contact: [email protected]
Upcoming Events
July 14-16, 2023
Pasadena, CA
Theme: Oceans & Ice – Exploring Icy Worlds with NASA’s Europa Clipper Mission
What People Have Said About the Workshop
“As an artist I’ve always felt alienated by science even though I was interested in it. But now I feel like you’ve broken down barriers that I had put up for myself and I can interact with the world in a completely new way.” -Violet Brand (Tucson, 2022)
“This experience began to really focus my ideas. The techniques you presented really opened my thinking to all the ways that science and art could be blended. That was a really exciting moment for me, as new ideas began to appear. It’s going to inform a lot of my work for years into the future.” -Elyas Masrour (Pasadena, 2023)
“Thank you for this experience, it’s been really transformative! Honestly I didn’t know what to expect and it exceeded all possible expectations.” -Lisa Tomczeszyn (Pasadena, 2023)
“Honestly this has reinvigorated me in terms of why I do science.” -Anonymous (Pasadena, 2023)
“This lab really shows how art can be used as a different way of learning something. I want to try using it in my class.” -Dr. Michelle Wooten (Tucson, 2022)
“I came into this as a fully-fledged artist seeking work in scientific spaces. This workshop has been a huge confidence booster in terms of my own ability to reach out to scientists and cross disciplines in ways that benefit both fields of study.” -Laura Lawson (Pasadena, 2023)
“This workshop has made learning about space seem more accessible! I’m encouraged to learn more, and I’m inspired to use the methods you’ve taught to navigate an academic discourse between science and graphic design.” – anonymous (Pasadena, 2023)
About the Instructor
Dr. Jamie L. Molaro is a planetary scientist at the Planetary Science Institute and the Caltech/Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She studies the way that boulders and landscapes weather and evolve on the rocky and icy surfaces of asteroids, comets, and moons. She’s also a science team member on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission to retrieve a sample of rock from an asteroid, and even has an asteroid named after her. Jamie has organized numerous art exhibitions through her work founding The Art of Planetary Science, an annual science-focused art show which you can also read about on her website. She creates her own works in a variety of mediums including paper and embroidery that use spacecraft data in interesting ways, both to explore her own connection to other worlds and show a new side of them to others. Learn more about Jamie’s art and her research.