A new art exhibit is coming to IonE’s  Commons: Meeting & Art Space October 22 that aims to spark conversation between artists and scientists.

SAMEE — Sustainable Acts: Mother Earth’s Embrace — is the collected work of 40 artists using sustainable or sustainably sourced materials, dance and music as well as traditional art media to communicate their messages of environmental and social justice.

A reception for the exhibit will take place October 22, 4–7 p.m., and will feature a flash mob performance addressing the concept of sustainability at 5 p.m. The exhibit runs until January 15, 2016.

Photo/art by Joyce Lyon

“Artists and scientists are on the same trail,” says Roslye Ultan, liberal studies senior faculty member in the College of Continuing Education and curator of the exhibit. “Nothing happens in isolation. The artist without scientific knowledge and the scientist without vision won’t get anywhere. They need each other to get to higher ground.”

SAMEE is a follow-up to an art exhibit curated by Ultan at IonE last year, Tales of Environmental Turbulence. Several artists from ToET will be returning with new work, including Tanya Grevening, whose totem pole embossed with plastic toys was a crowd favorite, and Sean Connaughty, who creates unusual and surprising biospheres. Camile Gage, who conducted the interactive I AM WATER art show across the country and in the IonE Commons will be part of the SAMEE show, as will IonE resident fellow Jonee Brigham.

Other artists include Joel Carter, a physician who uses stone sculptures to illustrate how healing balance can be realized in the most unlikely places.

Photo/art by Rochelle Woldorsky

The SAMEE exhibit is supported in part by an IonE Mini Grant. The exhibit and reception are free and open to the campus community and the general public. Call or email for more info: 612-626-9553 / ione@umn.edu.

Banner photo/art by David Malcolm Scott