Leonardo-ASU 5th Anniversary Celebration: Fall 2024 – Spring 2025

The Leonardo-ASU Initiative celebrates its 5th anniversary this year, commemorating five years of transformative collaboration merging arts, sciences, and technology to drive innovation and impact. Anniversary programming includes a series of special events and exhibitions designed to showcase our achievements, engage community, and foster new partnerships for the future.

November 22, 2024

MEDIAted Membranes Launch

(May 1, Mesa) MEDIAted Membranes, a community-based multiphase project that explores the intersection of public art, technology and environmental data practices, made its debut at the ASU Media and Immersive eXperience Center. The project, developed by Dr. Ana Herruzo, Dr. Biayna Bogosian, Dr. Nick Pilarski, and Johanna Taylor (among others), was one of the first two groups to receive the Leonardo Planetary Health Research Seed Grant. The interdisciplinary project aims to create innovative, adaptive, and environmentally aware public interfaces that push the boundaries of artistic expression and urban sustainable technology

LASER-Tempe: Is Everyone a Leonardo?
(September 13, Tempe) This exclusive event featured a preview conversation with renowned filmmaker Ken Burns, hosted by Leonardo CEO Diana Ayton-Shenker, exploring how Leonardo da Vinci’s legacy shapes modern interdisciplinary creativity. The conversation was followed by a conversation between Diana Ayton-Shenker and MacArthur Genius Award recipient Liz Lerman about the genius in us all. This event was made possible in collaboration with Arizona PBS.

UN Summit for the Future “Creating the Future Together” Mixer
(September 19, NYC) Leonardo-ASU friends and leaders gathered in New York City for a networking mixer on the eve of the UN Summit for the Future, celebrating interdisciplinary efforts and fostering collaborations in a global context.

Planetary Health Research Seed Grants Round 2 Announcement
(September 26, Tempe) The Leonardo-ASU Initiative announced the second round of seed grants for projects focused on planetary health, encouraging research and creative interdisciplinary exploration around urgent environmental and health issues. Funding for the seed grants is made possible in collaboration from ASU’s Global Futures Laboratory and Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts.

“Atmospheres of Belonging” Exhibition
(November 12 to November 16, Mesa) Held at the MIX Center, this exhibition, developed by Dr. Christy Spackman, Dr. Byron Lahey, and PhD Student Lauryn Mannigel, invites audiences to reflect on belonging through a multisensory display of edible sugar sculptures. Atmospheres of Belonging was one of the first two groups to receive the Leonardo Planetary Health Research Seed Grant.

Translating Atmospheres: Environmental Data as Art
(November 14, Mesa) Recipients of the Planetary Health Research Seed Grant participated in a LASER (Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous) at the MIX Center, presenting their innovative research on remote data and the compelling stories that bring their findings to life. After the panel discussion, attendees were treated to an exclusive behind the scenes view of the Atmospheres of Belonging exhibit, followed by a guided tour of the MIX Center’s rooftop cactus garden. The garden’s cacti provided real-time data that powered the MEDIAted Membranes installation, blending art and science in this immersive experience.

MEDIAted Membranes: Environmental Data Resonance in UrbanScapes Exhibition
(November, Mesa) Opening in November, this exhibition by Leonardo Planetary Health Research Seed Grant awardees Ana Herruzo and Biayna Bogosian presents urban environmental data through this immersive art installation, engaging audiences with the invisible forces shaping city environments. This exhibition is an encore of the original presented at the MIX Center, and will be on display at the City of Mesa Town Hall.

Intersecting Futures: Art, Science and Technology
(Ongoing, Tempe and Mesa) This ongoing exhibition, displayed at the Walton Center for Planetary Health, Dixie Gammage Hall, and MIX Center, features selected covers from the Leonardo journal, offering a visual journey through five years of interdisciplinary innovation in the arts and sciences. Each site features a uniquely curated collection of journal covers that speak to the foci of the place in which they are displayed. Additionally, each site has an accompanying access page that includes open access pieces from each of the featured issues, along with a visual and voice-recorded description of the exhibition.

Imagination Fellowship Exhibition at MIXiversary
(February 22, 2025, Mesa) The MIX Center will host an exhibition showcasing the Planetary Health-themed projects of 2024 Imagination Fellows, including Alinta Krauth, Santiago Reyes Villaveces, and Sean Connelly, displayed on the MIX Center’s 92-foot external screen.

Imagination Fellowship LASER
(May 2025, online) The Leonardo-ASU Initiative and ASU’s Center for Science and the Imagination will present the annual LASER event featuring the groundbreaking projects of the 2024-2025 Imagination Fellows, emphasizing creative approaches to global challenges.