A student in the South Dakota Mines Foundry heats
metal in a forge before working it on an anvil. The campus Blacksmithing club
is just one aspect of the new A+E program at Mines.
Artists are joining forces with engineers and
scientists in a new program at South Dakota Mines that links the creative
process with science and engineering education. The program includes hands-on
instruction from local artists in pottery, glass making and blacksmithing
alongside classroom lectures that tie in science and engineering concepts used
in art creation.
The
new Arts + Engineering Program at Mines is thanks to a grant from the National Science
Foundation (NSF). The
effort was started by the Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering
in conjunction with current and emeritus faculty who teach art at Mines in the
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences.
The program also includes area artists who teach alongside engineering
faculty in the university foundry.
“The
program is designed to increase both innovation and intellectual diversity
using evidence-based strategies,” says Katrina Donovan, Ph.D., co-principal
investigator on the project and lecturer of materials and metallurgical
engineering at Mines. “For example, specific skills developed from sketching
improves an individual’s ability to visualize qualities of the medium;
opportunity to create, innovate and adapt a concept; and ability to communicate
ideas to others. Improved intellectual diversity will lead to improved critical
thinking and holistic design.”
Mines
has an established history in tying the arts of blacksmithing and
bladesmithing to the science of metallurgy. The
A+E Program strengthens
Mines efforts in these arts and establishes new programs related to glass and
ceramic materials. The program also integrates materials and minerals
found in the Black Hills in the creation of art and the study of materials
science. In the spring of 2022, students used local clay to make pottery and they studied the chemical makeup
and materials processing throughout the creative process.
“When engineering takes flight in the service of art
it is at its most dynamic point,” says Deborah Mitchell, an associate professor
emerita of humanities at South Dakota Mines. “Some compelling examples are two
large scale metal sculptures by the South Dakota Artist Laureate, Dale
Lamphere, Dignity and The Arc of Dreams. The breadth and vision of these works
were only possible with technical know-how of people who may have little to no
art training but were carried along by the vision of a creative genius. At places
such as Crazy Horse, Mt. Rushmore, even the Corn Palace, art and engineering
come together to forge a tangible expression of the power of each.”
Mines faculty will provide short public
presentations at the upcoming Arts + Engineering Mixer event starting
at 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 15 at the David Lust Accelerator Building (18 East Main
St in Rapid City). Members of the press and public are invited to attend and
learn more about the ongoing work in this new program.