Left Brain Rebels

Golden Colorado- I want you to think of an engineering or applied science field; in your notion of this does Art (creativity) come to mind? The general notion is that science must be separated from art, that in college a student must choose art or science, but the reality is as engineers and applied scientists we must attempt to find balance between the two. In reality, science is a feat of heightened creativity.

In this sprit, The Colorado School of Mines will host the inaugural ArtiST conference. ‘Art in Science and Technology’ is a conference and competition between literary journals of the nation’s top technical, science, and engineering schools. This year’s participants are Erato from Georgia Tech, Ink from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Rune from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Signatures from Rochester Institute of Technology, and High Grade from The Colorado School of Mines. According to Toni Lefton, faculty advisor for High Grade and teaching professor in the LAIS Department, “The motivation for this project is to garner national recognition for the artistic achievements of the participating technological institutes and to promote a healthy relationship between the arts and the sciences in higher education.”

When the left brain rebels, you get art. High Grade, your local, creative art magazine, is a tangible example of the fruit of rebelling. So give in to that sweet smell of art and come along to the conference on April 5th-7th. The conference will be three days of readings, performances, and talks. A full schedule is available at http://highgrade.mines.edu/ArtiST.

This year’s nationally renowned judge will be Dr. Jake Adam York. He is the author of three books of poetry, the winner of the 2005 Elixir Press Prize in Poetry, and the winner of the 2009 Colorado Book Award in Poetry. He is also an associate professor of English and the director of Creative Writing at the University of Colorado at Denver.

To start things off with a major bang, Dr. York will give a reading that will be open to the campus community. He will even sign books and conduct a question and answer session afterwards. The reading is Thursday April 5th starting at 4 p.m. in ballroom E. So come out and let that left side brain of yours soak up some great poetry from a world-class poet.

Another highlight of the conference is a performance in the Arthur Lakes Library Friday April 6th from 12-1 where the journal editors will be doing readings from their respective journals. So pop by during lunch and hear some great art made right on our campus and on campuses around the nation. Also, don’t forget April is Nation Poetry Month, so do your duty and come out and support the art of Mines.