Arts Research Integration at KU’s Spencer Museum of Art Receives $3 Million Endowment
Aug 22, 2022
The Arts Research Integration Program (ARI) at the University of Kansas’s Spencer Museum of Art has received a $3 million endowment from local Kansas City philanthropist and arts advocate Margaret Silva to continue its innovative work bringing artists as integral collaborators into research across the disciplines.
According to the Spencer Museum website, “ARI “leverages the power of artists and art to advance interdisciplinary research practices and engage the public in learning and knowledge-sharing. Through ARI, the Spencer actively embeds artists into high-level research happening across the sciences and humanities at the University of Kansas, recognizing that the creation of art is a research methodology in its own right and one that has much to contribute to the study of our world.”
The program, which was highlighted at a2ru’s 2019 National Conference, was founded in 2016 with a four-year grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
“ARI brings artists together with researchers, scholars, professors and students to explore subjects deeply relevant to our lives,” said Joey Orr, the museum’s curator for research, in a release. He continues, “It is very much about moving beyond conversations about the importance of art to making art part of the study and exploration of our world and integral to tackling pressing issues.”
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