Apply for a Duke Arts Grant by Oct. 14
Duke faculty and staff can apply for a grant that encourages interdisciplinary collaboration
Simon Gregory hoped to transform his human genome research into an art exhibition.
A few years ago, he received a $3,000 Duke Arts grant to collaborate with a Duke alum and artist, Jessica Johnson, to analyze Johnson’s personal genome and turn that data into a series of sculptures and drawings. The project included science and art talks at the Durham School of the Arts and an exhibition in the Bryan Center.
Gregory, director of Genomics and Epigenetics for the Duke Molecular Physiology Institute, said without the grant, he and Johnson could not create the artwork to share with students and other individuals interested in science.
“It’s opening the field to perhaps a group of kids who wouldn’t normally see or perceive science in this sort of way,” Gregory said. “There is a really cool perception of the functioning of a cell or DNA or protein that can be represented very artistically and aesthetically.”
The Duke Arts “Collaboration Development Grant” program, funded by the Duke Office of the Vice Provost for the Arts, is open to faculty and staff members who want to collaborate with artists and other faculty members to plan or produce a high-quality artistic project.
The program is currently accepting proposals through 4 p.m. Oct. 14. Proposals should include a project description and budget. Eligible grant proposals can involve larger-scale project ideas or even the presentation of a completed project. The maximum amount for each grant is $3,000.
The program began about 10 years ago as a way to strengthen the arts community at Duke and support faculty projects. Nearly 50 projects have received grant funding since then, totaling about $150,000 in support.
Duke University and Health System faculty and staff are eligible to apply. Applications are more strongly considered if the faculty or staff member has had a long career at Duke or if one of the collaborators is a Duke faculty member.
“These are people who know Duke and have contributed to Duke over a long period of time and would see the grant opportunity as something that would allow them to deepen that relationship with Duke and their work and what they do campus,” said Scott Lindroth, vice provost for the arts. “We found this has been a very popular program, and it’s just exciting to see what kinds of proposals come in from all over campus.”