Art Meets Science: New Facility a ‘Mecca’ for Collaborative Research

Art Meets Science: New Facility a ‘Mecca’ for Collaborative Research

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Imagine a place where studio painters, sculptors, ceramicists, graphic artists, scientists and engineers gather to collaborate on projects that might someday change the way everyday objects are created.

The Facility for Arts Research (FAR) — a 22,500-square-foot former cancer-research facility nestled on 5 acres in northwest Tallahassee — is the result of a new initiative from the Florida State University’s College of Visual Arts, Theatre & Dance. Perhaps the first facility of its kind in the country, FAR will provide a unique, interdisciplinary research environment for both the fine arts and the sciences.

“Once again, we are being very efficient and effective, taking a pre-existing building and re-imagining it into a cutting-edge artists’ mecca that will provide our students with an even richer academic experience,” said Florida State University President Eric J. Barron at a ribbon-cutting ceremony held today.

“FAR will allow students, faculty and researchers in the arts, engineering, sciences, medicine, information, business and beyond to work together on innovative research projects that truly cross disciplinary boundaries.”

For example, students will be able to design objects and then produce them by using the facility’s 3D Z Printer 450, a state-of-the-art, three-dimensional printer that can print whole objects in their entirety, including tools.

In addition to the 3D printer, the FAR building will provide the special equipment students and researchers will need to experiment with printmaking, electronics and digital fabrication, allowing the college to expand what Barron believes is a rigorous, interdisciplinary look into art making and business initiatives related to design.

“It’s very 21st century, and it’s all those things we are emphasizing campus-wide to move the university forward: collaborative, cross-disciplinary, entrepreneurial,” Barron said. “It’s also another signal that our outstanding arts programs are truly elite. The call will go out. If you want to do exciting art and design research, Florida State University is the place to be.”

Chad Eby, an assistant professor in Florida State University’s College of Visual Arts, Theatre & Dance, who is spearheading the effort, knows that this place will someday inspire some really amazing art — and research.

At 45, Eby, who hold two degrees in communications as well as a master’s degree in fine arts, is a hybrid of new and old himself. He’s old-school enough to know that a studio painter might not see the possibilities in the digital world, but hip enough to understand that learning new technology alongside traditional art-making will help ensure that students are well prepared to enter a competitive job market.

The building is spacious enough to accommodate both classrooms and laboratories. It also houses a seminar room named for Vice President for Research and Robert O. Lawton Professor of Physics Kirby W. Kemper. Kemper, who recently announced his retirement and who is widely renowned for his passionate support of the arts, said recently that the realization of the FAR building was among “the proudest moments of my career.”

http://cvatd.fsu.edu/Special-Programs-Facilities/Facility-for-Arts-Research