An 18-month residency funded by the SETI Institute will support Incubator Art Lab team member Domenica Mediati to inspire youth in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
Through the institute's artist-in-residence program, Mediati will receive the Beyond Silos STEAM residency, which supports educators in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math in developing interdisciplinary teaching approaches that integrate art and science.
Incubator Art Lab team member Domenica Mediati has received a residency funded by the SETI Institute to develop educational resources inspiring secondary school students to engage in astrobiology research. Photo by JElliott.
Her project "Cosmic Communities: Stories of Life Beyond Our World," in collaboration with Incubator Art Lab director Jennifer Willet, aims to develop a curriculum to engage high school students in Grades 11 and 12.
"We will create downloadable workbooks, digital video recourses, and curriculum packages for teachers and host workshops for high school students and local community members," says Mediati.
"These digital and downloadable educational packages will support SETI's astrobiological topics by integrating SETI scientists with hands-on bioart, microbiology, microscopy and drawing, illustration, and digital animation practices."
Mediati is an intermedia artist and a sessional instructor in the Faculty of Education and School of Creative Arts. She works across painting, drawing, digital animation, and bioart practices, creating landscapes and characters that reflect and explore human and non-human narratives emphasizing microbiology. Since 2019, she has worked at Incubator Art Lab as a researcher, lab manager, and director of educational outreach programming.
The Beyond Silos residency aims to break down disciplinary silos in art and science and create meaningful learning situations to foster innovation, risk-taking, and creative problem solving. Educators receive a stipend and work with SETI Institute scientists, educators, and partners to develop their projects.
Bettina Forget, director of the institute's artist-in-residence program, says Mediati's proposal topped a competitive field.
"Dominica's innovative project stood out as it perfectly intersects with SETI Institute research and strongly foregrounds artistic practice in STEAM education," Forget says.
The SETI Institute is a non-profit research and education organization whose mission is to lead humanity's quest to understand the origins and prevalence of life and intelligence in the universe and to share that knowledge with the world.
