Science Art-Nature . . .raising the visibility of Science Art so that the
importance of maintaining the vital services nature supplies to society is
better understood. . . .
Our Mission
To: raise the prominence of Science Art and the benefits of combining the accuracy of science with the evocative power of art
To: advocate the use of Science Art to inform viewers about nature and ecosystems, and to encourage the sustainable use of resources
An Example of Science Art
In India, hundreds of thousands of healthy-looking Oriental White-backed Vultures
dropped dead after scavenging food contami-nated with diclofenac, a nonsteroidal
ant-iinflammatory medication given to livestock that had concentrated in their liver
and kidneys. This was the first record linking wild-life losses to a veterinary drug.
Between 1992 and 2004, the vulture popula-tions declined by more than 99 percent.
The void left behind was significant: For two millennia, the Parsi have laid out their
dead at the top of Towers of Silence to be quickly scavenged by the birds. In the
absence of vultures, rats and feral dogs harboring rabies multiplied. These dangerous
substitutes posed consequential threats to the human population.
Vultures and Crystals © 2004/2007 Darryl Wheye/Science Art
We hope to support our mission through private donations and grants
To found and establish the enterprise and to guarantee its growth over three years will require an initial resource commitment of
$100,000 each year, with annual increases of $10,000. This will support a small staff and the work of undergraduate and graduate
students on programs made possible through the organization.
Why Form a New Nonprofit Organization?
Is Science Art that important? Even it if is, is another nonprofit really needed to call attention to it, spread its reach, and ease public access?
Yes, Science Art is that important and will be especially helpful to…
- Scientists, teachers, and writers looking for visual representations or enhancements for their messages, their studies, their lectures, their books about achieving particular pieces of a sustainable society
- Public space curators searching for examples of evocative art that portray a vital service nature supplies to the local community or to society at large
- Students combing the Web and browsing the library for accurate and expressive visual portrayals of flora, fauna, or behaviors of interest, or sustainable resource extraction, or habitats that supported a severely threatened species a decade or a century ago, and how they could look a year from now
- Artists, anxious to use their talents for the greater good, wanting the their works to be seen
- Museums, wanting their enormous cache of warehoused works to be more useful to the public and to help meet the growing need for “green educated” students by presenting the works as Science Art through the application of a caption offering a science lens
No other organization facilitates Science Art and its link to sustainable living. The formation of this new nonprofit is timely and crucial given the accelerating need for better understanding of the vital services nature supplies to society.
“ ‘Science Art’... demonstrates how art connects us to nature, advances science, and helps protect our environment. ..."
—John Flicker, President, National Audubon Society
. . .The aims of this 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization owe their origin to a book:
The book, Humans, Nature, and Birds: Science Art from Cave Walls to Computer Screens, is the culmination of 15 years of research and network building, and provides this organization with a deeper foundation than others interested in science and art. It was written by two of the organization’s founding board members, Wheye and Kennedy, introduced by a third founder, Ehrlich, includes examples by a fourth, Angell, and was critically read during production by the fifth, Meadowcroft. It provides essential background information and explains that Science Art is a classification of image content whose science component may require the aid of a caption to decode. Our organization is poised to raise the prominence of Science Art both within academia and beyond, promoting its value not only to scientists and artists, but also to science and art enthusiasts and the general public.
Opportunities to achieve our aims will arise from our relationships with an extensive network of scientists, artists, educators, organizational leaders, environmental activists, writers, editors, curators, gallery owners, students, art patrons, and art lovers.
Among the aims we hope to achieve during the first year the following are central:
- providing a website that raises the visibility of Science Art and those who produce it so that opportunities for its installation in public spaces, its use in publications, its inclusion in exhibits, and its presence online all expand. It will, also serve as a platform to provide notice of outreach, support, and educational activities.
- producing a quarterly e-magazine, with features by scientists, artists, teachers, and other interested parties that show how Science Art informs viewers about particular aspects of nature. Articles and interviews will discuss the value of Science Art in conveying timely environmental issues, ecological research and ways to further their reach.
- establishing an online forum that encourages collaboration among scientists and artists so that the production of Science Art is informative, timely, and directed toward the goal of adjusting society until its maintenance is sustainable.
- encouraging a dialog about Science Art by presenting examples and by supporting its production and use through small grants to artists and subsidies to scientists interested in using examples in their publications.
- expanding our visibility in academic settings building on our work at Stanford University where we produced an artist registry and are now producing a podcast campus tour featuring flora, fauna, research carried out on them, aspects of their sustainability, and examples of Science Art.
With respect to those aims, we hope to reach the following milestones:
- assembling a broad spectrum of advisors to incorporate the views of scientists, artists, teachers, students, art lovers,
curators, publishers, and writers.
- acquiring 50 to 100 artist links to provide examples of Science Art
- acquiring 3 to 5 artist organization links and 3 to 5 conservation organization links to make forging collaborative efforts
easier and more effective
- securing 5 to 10 organization endorsements to encourage the use of Science Art in public education efforts
- working to have “Science Art” nominated as a new category in the listings of the Library of Congress to raise the
visibility of this kind of art and make it easier to find
Our Venture:
Bridging science and art by raising the prominence of Science Art, and with it the benefits of combining the accuracy of
science with the evocative power of art to inform viewers about nature and the importance of maintaining the vital services
nature supplies to society.
The following ‘logic model’ relates the possible relationships among target objectives, resources and constraints
Initial
Target Populations |
Inputs |
Resources |
Constraints |
Artists
Wildlife and Nature Artists
Bird Artists, including those
participating in the Artist Registry
for Ornithological Researchers
Scientists
Environmental Scientists
Ornithological Researchers
Educators
College and University
Art and Art History Departments
Science Departments
Personnel responsible for public
spaces
K-12
Teachers
School & District Administrators
Related NPOs
Science and Art groups
Wildlife Art groups
Nature Art groups
Art and Conservation groups
Scientific Illustrators
Museum Curators
Wildlife Museums
Natural History Museums
Gallery Owners
Nature Art Gallery
Editors
Publishers
Authors
Library of Congress
Nominating Committee |
Funding-related
Private donations
Grants
Related book received Alfred P. Sloan
Foundation support
Organization-related
Experienced and committed Board (n=5)
Experienced and committed Staff (n=1)
Advisory Council (n=3, will be large and diverse)
List of Affiliated Scientists and Artists (n=5, will be large
and diverse)
Seeking 200 artists (linked to website)
Seeking 5 artists organizations for collaborative
association
Seeking 10 conservation organizations for collaborative
association
Seeking 20 organization endorsements
Community/Target Population-related
High visibility within selected areas (e.g., environmental
science, bird art, conservation, etc.)
High visibility on the Web (Google search on science
art nature ranks website 3rd out of 41.7M)
Related book becoming known nationally and
internationally (e.g., reviews in New York Times,
Science, Audubon, The Ibis, The Living Birds;
recipient of Foreword Magazine’s 2008 Gold Medal
(Nature category)
Strong reputation within 60 million-strong U.S. birding
community (e.g., book has Audubon
[c. 500,000 members] endorsement)
Established relationship with Artist Registry for
Ornithological Researchers’ 14 sponsors, who
range from the National Museum of Natural
History (Smithsonian Institution) to the Royal
Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) to the
Society of Animal Artists and the American
Birding Association |
Funding-related
Dependent on donations and
grants
World economy in recession
Organization-related
One staff member to do most
of the work
Community/Target-Population-related
Must introduce new genre of Art that is not a style
Must develop relationships with school
district administrators, teachers, and
students
Limited access to schools
Compete with other organizations for limited time and resources available in schools
|
The Website: Our site, <scienceart-nature.org> will provide examples of Science Art and background information, as well as our e-magazine, access to our programs, related publications, networking links, artist links, sponsor links, a calendar, basic information about the organization.
Networking: Communicating with our network of scientists, artists, educators, organizational leaders, environmental activists, writers, editors, curators, gallery owners, students, art patrons, and art lovers will be aided through a variety of Web tools
Our Competitive Advantage: Our advantage derives from the success of the book and familiarity with the website that contains extensive excerpts and much of its message.
Our Resources
Our a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public benefit corporation is organized and operated for charitable and educational purposes. As noted, these purposes are discussed in Humans, Nature, and Birds: Science Art from Cave Walls to Computer Screens. The book has been favorably reviewed by, among others, the New York Times, Science, The Ibis, Audubon, and The Living Bird. Our website, which currently contains excerpts from the book, ranks very high on a Google search using the words “science”, “art”, “nature”.
The members of our Founding Board provide a broad range of perspectives, expertise, and experience in teaching, administration (including both academic and federal appointments), public education efforts (especially on environmental issues), nonprofit development, writing, research, editing, art production, web production, and membership on the boards of both commercial and nonprofit organization.
The members of our Advisory Committee will also provide a broad range of perspectives, expertise, and experience, as will members of our Affiliated Scientists and Artists.
Undergraduate and graduate student involvement will provide the voice of the next generation.
Our Services
As an information-based organization, we will spend the first three years establishing our reputation, initiating our programs and extending our reach, relying on private donations and grants to cover our expenses. As long as our fund-raising efforts are successful, our services will continue to be free.
Management
Our Founding Board
Tony Angell, naturalist, artist, and author
Paul R. Ehrlich, Bing Professor of Population Studies, Department of Biology, Stanford University
Donald Kennedy (Chair), President emeritus, Woods Senior Fellow, Stanford University
Pamela Meadowcroft, Meadowcroft & Associates, Inc.; Faculty Associate, Institute for Evaluation
Science, School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh
Darryl Wheye, artist and author
Our Officers
President/CEO, Darryl Wheye
Secretary, Paul R. Ehrlich
Treasurer, Pamela Meadowcroft
Our Advisory Council and
Affiliated Artists and Scientists
In the process of being selected
Operations
Our development efforts have involved forming the framework of our organization: establishing the founding board, selecting officers, writing bylaws, filing the Articles of Incorporation, securing pro bono legal assistance, acquiring 501(c)(3) status, surveying the first cohort of artists, and launching a preview of our website <scienceart-nature.org> that provides information about Science Art.
Supporting Professionals
Pro bono legal council is provided by:
Latham & Watkins LLP,
505 Montgomery Street, Suite 2000
San Francisco, CA 94111-6538
Accounting services. To be selected.
Staff Compensation
Of the $100,000 we hope to raise in our first year, $110,000 in our second, and $120,000 in our third, $49,000 will be used for salaries and $12,250 for benefits each year.
A summary of projected services and outcomes
The following ‘logic model’ relates the possible relationships among activities and outputs
Activities |
Outcomes |
Quarterly E-magazine
Interviews with and articles by scientists
Interviews with and articles by artists
Featured environmental and ecological reports
Featured examples of Science Art
Featured member artists
News (venues, publications, etc.)
Grant opportunities
Subsidizing inclusion of Science Art in publications
by scientists
Collaborations
Resources
Help artists with source material
Help artists with caption writing
Caption database
Publications
Artist in Residency Programs
Information on changes in Public Education (curricular
And extra-curricular)
Networking
Involvement at national meetings, exhibits, etc. |
Quarterly E-magazine
Increased blog and other online reactions
Increased attendance and activity at exhibitions
Increased production of Science Art
Increased feedback from exhibits; exhibit reviews, etc.
Increased # participating and their reactions
Increased presence of Science Art in publications
Increased availability of Artist in Residence programs and
# of participants
Increased inclusion of Science Art in interdisciplinary
programs
Networking
Increased visibility and sphere of influence |
The following ‘logic model’ shows projected initial, intermediate, and longer-term outcomes
Initial Outcomes
(knowledge, attitudes, skills) |
Intermediate Outcomes
(actions) |
Longer-term Outcomes
(condition or status) |
Knowledge
Increasing awareness of Science Art
Increasing understanding of the
relevance of Science Art
Increasing exposure of artists and
examples of Science Art
Attitudes
Increasing awareness of the
rising interest in Science Art
Increasing opportunities for artists
Increasing opportunities for
scientists to use Science Art
Increasing access to scientific
information available to artists
Increasing number of artists having
us create links to their websites
Skills
Increasing number of artists
mastering caption-writing |
Actions
More scientists and artists comment on
blogs linked to our website
More artists have us create links to their
websites
Museum visitors recommend the
inclusion of captions for images that
would qualify as Science Art
More artists compete for grants
More scientists request subsidies to
include Science Art in their publications
More artists and scientists initiate
collaborative projects
More schools expanding collaborative
efforts among art and science students
provide us with information
More organizations with art programs
include Science Art
More publications feature examples of
Science Art
More public spaces exhibit Science Art |
Conditions or status arising from the
quarterly e-magazine and our
networking efforts
Scientists, artists, educators, donors,
editors, writers, conservationists, art
patrons etc., are more aware of Science
Art, and support raising its visibility
Galleries, museums, illustrated publica-
tions, and public spaces present, or plan
to present, examples of Science Art and
their captions
Donations for grants to produce Science
Art continue to rise
Donations for subsidies to include
Science Art in publications continue to
rise
Examples of Science Art and their
captions increase in sophistication |
Financial Projections
We assume that our projected expenses of less than $100,000 annually will cover our operations and our program development for the first three years, including an annual rise in the cost of doing business. (We are allowing ourselves a five percent buffer each year). If, however, interest in Science Art increases rapidly, we should be able to increase the scope of our programs in proportion to the ease of securing increased funding. Expanding our operations and personnel in response to such demand is a challenge we would look forward to addressing.
| Proposed Budget for year one of Science Art-Nature |
| |
Projected revenues |
Projected expenses |
| Gifts and grants |
$100,000 |
|
| Art: Production Program |
|
$10,000 |
| Science: Use of Science Art in Publications |
|
$10,000 |
| E-magazine expenses |
|
$02,000 |
| Operating Expenses |
|
$02,000 |
| Professional Fees |
|
$08,000 |
| Other |
|
$02,000 |
| Salaries |
|
$49,000 |
| Benefits |
|
$12,250 |
| TOTAL |
$100,000 |
$95,250 |
| |
|
|
Table of Contents |
|
| Why Form a New Nonprofit Organization? |
|
| Executive Summary |
|
| Our Venture |
|
| Our Resources |
|
| Our Services |
|
| Management |
|
| Operations |
|
| Supporting Professionals |
|
| Officer Compensation |
|
| Timeline and Growth |
|
| Risks |
|
| Financial Projections |
|
Reveiw of the Amount of Funding Required
To found and establish the enterprise and guarantee its growth over 3 years will require an initial resource commitment of $100,000 each year, and an increase of $10,000 annually. This will support a small staff and the work of undergraduate and graduate students on programs made possible through the organization.
 |
The Adaptable Crow
Tony Angell/Science Art
Crows routinely exploit human resources for their own needs. |
Nature, P.O. Box 18754, Palo Alto, CA 94309-8754
scienceart-nature.org - 650.851.8433 - contact@scienceart-nature.org |
Science Art-Nature
