The Evening of Art + Science, a gala that features artwork inspired by research from the University of Michigan’s A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute, returns to Detroit for its third consecutive year in April.
“What Al (Taubman) wanted to do was to meld his two loves which were science — he was very passionate about biomedical research — and art, his other big passion,” says Eva Feldman, director of the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute. “It was his idea to have an (event) to celebrate the Taubman Institute and its accomplishments by having an evening where we would discuss art and science.”
The Evening of Art + Science, to be held April 21 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit in Detroit’s Midtown district, will auction paintings, sculpture, and jewelry created by 20 artists that have partnered with clinician scientists at the Taubman Institute.
Feldman has partnered with Beverly Fishman, the artist in residence at the Cranbrook Museum of Art in Bloomfield Hills. Feldman says she went to see Fishman’s studio, and then Fishman spend a morning in Feldman’s laboratory, using photos of stem cells, brains, and proteins as the inspiration for her artwork.
Feldman says a new addition to this year’s event is two lectures leading up to the gala, which are open to the public. Feldman and Fishman will discuss their work and offer a glimpse of their collaboration on March 23 at the Cranbrook Museum of Art. Another lecture will be held at the University of Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor on March 31.
Proceeds from the Evening of Art + Science, which features a strolling dinner and signature cocktails, benefit the Taubman Institute’s Emerging Scholars Program, which focuses on funding young clinician scientists as they establish their laboratories and build the credentials necessary for traditional forms of funding.
“These are young, new faculty who have clinician scientist appointments who are actively doing research on a disease of interest where they see patients with the same disease,” Feldman says. “These monies then go to help to facilitate the development of new therapeutics in laboratories. These young scholars are remarkable, and since the program was initiated they have generated nine new therapies that have come to clinical trial.”
To purchase tickets to the event, click here. ​
