ART AND GEOLOGY COLLABORATIONS: BADLANDS WORKING GROUP

In a similar spirit as Hayden inviting Thomas Moran to join the Geological Surveys of the 1870s, the Badlands Working Group established and led by Dr. Patrick Burkhart of Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania began inviting artists to join twelve years ago in order to advance the collection of visual data and foster creative approaches to scientific inquiry while investigating landscape formation in Badlands National Park, SD. Collaborating between institutions as well as disciplines, students and faculty work as a team, positively influencing each other while submerged in the field far outside any classroom. Pedagogical approaches must be fluid and succinct, cultivated by unique situations and sites explored while traveling through multiple states from the Allegheny Plateau to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. The inclusion of artists in an otherwise scientific expedition has cultivated many professional successes. Advanced scholarship has been presented via peer-reviewed papers, conferences, lectures, symposia, workshops, as well as solo and group art exhibitions. Geologists and geoscientists have improved their observational, drawing, and photographic skills, in turn, enhancing field notebooks and scientific storytelling abilities. Geologic processes such as erosion and scientific methods like the principles of relative dating have inspired artists to utilize creative applications of various media and techniques to convey a journey of shared experiences. Participants through the years have created artworks inspired by the landscape in such media as photography, painting, sculpture, video, performance, and fiber art. Some have also utilized soils, sediments, and rocks for creating artworks in ceramics, drawing, and metalsmithing, ultimately leading to the artists’ deeper understanding of physical and chemical properties as well as the nature of Earth materials. Everyone participates in both artistic and scientific inquiry, and everyone benefits.