When you first think about it, the arts and science don’t have that much in common.
Artists deal with imagery, color, metaphor, texture, illusions, emotions, perceptions. Art is subjective.
Scientists uses facts, numbers, equations, and data. Science is objective.
They couldn’t be more different in the way they approach their work.
Artists look for ways to express what is seen and felt in a way that anyone can understand. They work to communicate experiences.
Scientists work to explain the universe through empirical measurable evidence based on principles and laws.
“The purpose of art is to lay bare the questions which have been hidden by the answers.” James Baldwin
But when you think a little deeper you see that art and science have more things in common than they have differences.
There are many ideas and concepts that are absolutely integral to both disciplines:
research, observation, experimentation, discovery, collaboration, and innovation.
No artist can do her work without experimentation, and neither can a scientist.
Some scientists find that collaboration produces the best results, and so do some artists.
But the biggest of these commonalities is creativity.
“Art and science are manifestations of the same thing. They are avatars of human creativity.” Mae Jamison
There are still a lot of questions out there to ask, and a lot of answers to find.
Combining the skills of artists with that of scientists will profoundly increase the capacity for growth of ideas in our world.
The world needs creative and productive collaborations between scientists and artists.
We are starting that collaboration here at LEADPrep as we combine arts into our STEM curriculum and educate students to use creativity to make a positive impact on the world.
