A few issues ago in this space, I celebrated Omaha's Kaneko, a hybrid art space/public forum that explores creativity in all kinds of cross-disciplinary ways by inviting artists, philosophers, scientists, psychologists, and others to share stage space and ideas. And I gave some props to local institutions that are moving in this direction.

One outfit here that I didn't mention--the always-innovative Science Museum of Minnesota--is doing some remarkable Kaneko-like programming, with one such event coming up soon.

The museum's Beaker and Brush discussions bring art and science together within the walls of one of Saint Paul's hippest new saloons, Amsterdam Bar and Hall downtown. On Tuesday, April 10, this year's series kicks off with a particularly interesting pairing of presenters: artist Jan Elftmann and Jackie Hoff, Director of Collections Services in the Science Learning Division of the museum, on the topic "Why We Collect."

The Conservator and the Art Car Woman

If you've been to any of the annual Art Car/Art Bike Parades, you know who Elftmann is--she's the woman who collected 10,000 wine and champagne corks and glued them to her truck. She also directs the parades--and teaches art, science, and engineering. "Currently," says the Beaker and Brush web page, "she has been encrusting cement lawn ornaments and taxidermy animals with thousands of objects she has been sorting by color." Hoff helps maintain the museum's collection by conserving and cataloging artifacts, and connecting researchers with the objects they need to examine.

Their conversation will explore topics like why kids are avid collectors, how museums select artifacts to display, and what makes a collector pay a million dollars for a painting. The event kicks off at 6:30 PM on the 10th and runs for two hours at Amsterdam. It's free of charge.

Coming Up

The next two B and B events sound good too: on May 8, kinetic sculptor David Bowen and Louisa Bradtmiller, assistant professor of climate science at Macalester College, will discuss "The Changing Ocean," and attendees will find out, among other things, "how a wave from the middle of the sea can be instantaneously transported to the center of an art gallery."

And on June 12, one of my favorite local artists, the bowling-ball carver and object-sculptor Allen Christian--I gave a shout-out to his marvelous House of Balls a few weeks ago--will join Kenneth Rys of Medtronic for a confab about "Humanizing the Machine." An intriguing pairing--Medtronic designs machines that get inserted into humans, and Christian takes kitchen appliances and makes them look like people.