Micro-Grant Program

Our MicroGrant Program offers small but critical support to persons whose existing scientific, artistic, or transdisciplinary project requires extra funding for completion. With a focus on projects that combine the arts, sciences, and technology in novel ways, our grantees projects are highlighted below.

There are currently no microgrant opportunities open for application. Join our mailing list to stay up to date on our next open call.

NATURE AS MUSE

Kaye Savage & Art & Earth: Landscapes

The Art & Earth: Landscapes project aims to convey geologic and hydrologic data through sculptural explorations, using handmade paper and mixed media. The paper making and shaping incorporates real components of each landscape, both mineral and botanical, with abstract representation of form. Quantitative data will be embellished on the paper substrate through ink transfer and other media; explanations of the data and the goals of the related scientific investigation will be provided in short statements next to each piece.
 
The prototype in progress represents Glendale Shoals Preserve on the Lawson’s Fork Creek in Spartanburg County, SC. The data set for the piece under construction is temporal variation in stream flow of the Lawson's Fork Creek and its relationship to water levels in two adjoining wetlands that have somewhat different responses due to differences in vegetation and elevation.
​Kaye Savage teaches in the Environmental Studies Department at Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC. Her research in environmental geochemistry and her current art practice are investigations of chemical, physical, and biological interactions across different scales of time and space in various environments at and near Earth’s surface. She is particularly fascinated with the ways in which water in soils and stream systems transports earth materials. Her favorite course to teach, Art and Earth, investigates the geologic origins of materials used in the arts, how landscapes are depicted in works of art, and art as a means of environmental activism. 
Past grantees:

DATA VISUALIZATION

Karen Ong & Olfactory-Visual Synesthesia 
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​Computational biologist Karen Ong collaborated with artist and synesthete Lauren Slivka to better understand olfactory-visual synesthesia through analysis of fragrance paintings. The funds from this micro-grant were used to buy art materials for a pilot study in which Lauren painted her visual experience of a selection of perfumes, and Karen analyzed the visual data produced by Lauren with aims to quantify synesthetic experience.

BIOMEDIATION

Simone Tetrault & "Symphony of the Fourth Dimension"

"Symphony of the Fourth Dimension" is an immersive theater production that explores the phenomenology of time through the lens of perception, examining the emotional and metaphysical human experience. The funds from this micro-grant were used to purchase heart-rate monitors and body sensor technology, as well as motion sensor equipment, which allowed for the depiction and translation of the body's experience through time in sound and real time visual projection.