In Humans, Nature and Birds: Science Art from Cave Walls to Computer Screens (Yale University Press, 2008) we encouraged the use of Science Art in public spaces to inform passersby about species who share the area.
Campus Overview
The main Stanford campus, with its grasslands, woodlands, seasonal lake, 25 fountains and more than 800 species of plants, is host to more than 100 species of birds, including many year-round residents.
The Audubons
Ten works by John James Audubon have been installed in nine campus buildings near exits that open toward areas the portrayed birds tend to frequent. The exhibit is designed to inform passersby about those birds and make it easier to spot them.
Each Audubon printout includes a label providing an icon identifying the image as part of a Stanford venture along with the display’s QR Code and the project’s URL that will lead viewers to the project’s website. The web presentation includes a Science Art caption, locations of the featured birds on campus, information on sustainability issues and links to viewer-submitted images and studies.
We hope this pilot project is just the beginning. The exits of many of the 700 campus buildings open onto areas that support birds, and as you will read, Art at Exits: Seeing Stanford Species is already establishing partnerships between the arts and others to help inform the Stanford community of the birds that live here.
This exhibit would have been impossible without the pro bono help of the National Audubon Society, who provided jpgs of the Audubon prints, and VKK Signmakers, Inc., of Redwood City, CA, who printed the jpgs and provided beautifully crafted and expertly installed acrylic frames. It also would have been impossible without the Bill Lane Center for the American West, the Center for Conservation Biology, the Stanford Art Institute (SAI) and Science Art-Nature, who either sponsored or supported this project.
In addition, Paul Zenke of the Academic Technology Lab (ATL) provided essential guidance and assistance with the QR Codes and the emerging mobile version. Members of our oversight committee--Gretchen Daily (Biology), Tom Grey (Law, emeritus), Mike Keller/Mimi Calter (Libraries), Alan Launer (Planning Department), Alexander Nemerov (Art History), and Katherine Preston (Human Biology)--provided a sounding board and advice on nominee buildings and species while David Lennox (University Architect), Matthew Tiews (Executive Director of Arts Programs), Cathy Blake (Associate Director, Campus Planning and Design/University Landscape Architect) and Ted Tucholski (Grounds Manager) have all played essential roles, and an implementation study by Nicole Ardoin (Graduate School of Education and Woods Institute for the Environment) will help us tailor the exhibit to address viewer preferences.
Building managers of the Carnegie Institution, Green Library, the Hume Writing Center Jasper Ridge's Sun Field Station, the Keck Science Building, Lane Hall, McClatchy Hall, Seeley G. Mudd Chemistry Building and Tresidder Union have been exceptionally supportive and patient as installation decisions were made and procedures completed.
Sustaining Campus Species
Viewer suggestions will be forwarded and outcomes described in the web presentation.What Happens Next
Submitted links to research, research summaries, videos and viewer images of featured birds will be added to the web presentation. The exhibit will be up at least until June 2016.Brochures describing the exhibit will be provided at--or near--most installations.
If funding is found to expand the exhibit to include additional species and buildings, this exhibit could eventually become a university program. Please let us know what you think! Send comments using this form. It would help to know, for example...
Darryl Wheye (darrylw@stanford.edu) and Donald Kennedy, July 2014