Science Gallery has been described as a place where science and art collide. The result? Creative ways to tackle some of the world's biggest problems.
The first Science Gallery Lab is in Dublin. Now, Michigan State University is launching Science Gallery Lab Detroit.
Jeff Grabill is associate provost for teaching, learning, and technology at Michigan State. He joined Stateside to talk about the worldwide attention the program has attracted and its future in Detroit.
According to Grabill, the Wellcome Trust in the United Kingdom calls Science Gallery the “most important public engagement project in the world."
It earned that title because of the project's ability to engage 15-25 year olds to help solve some of the world's greatest problems. The place all that problem solving happens is a new learning platform where science, art and humans collide.
“[They create] a learning experience which is not a science museum, and not an art gallery but has correspondences with both," Grabill said. "But much more like a theater. So, it’s a deeply experiential moment in which people have conversations with each other and with mediators, who help facilitate conversation around the ideas and the art and the science that they’re seeing and the exhibit in front of them."
It’s a “pop-up model,” so Science Gallery Lab Detroit won't have a set home. The goal is to move the gallery around the city to reach as many people—especially young people—as possible.
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