ENGAGEMENT

VISITING ARTIST & CRITIC Packet (PDF)SPEAKING & TEACHING INQUIRIES
Bioartist Laura Splan teaching a Bacterial Transformation Bioart Workshop at Coalesce Laboratory
Laura Splan teaching a "Bioart and Bacterial Transformation" workshop at Coalesce: Center for Biological Arts, Photo by Felipe Shibuya
TEACHING & ADVISING

Laura Splan's interdisciplinary workshops and studio practice advising unpack intersections of art, science, and technology through individual and group engagement. She addresses critical and topical themes through companion programming, including participatory learning covering laboratory techniques, specialized software, and textiles methods that she uses in her own studio practice.

As an educator, Splan has held academic appointments at Stanford University, teaching interdepartmental Art courses to Engineering, Computer Science, Biology, Math, as well as Art majors. As an artist-in-residence, she has taught academic seminars at the University of Maine and Illinois State University. Her public workshops have been hosted by the Fredrickson Family Innovation Lab, Tang Teaching Museum, and Coalesce Center for Biological Arts. Splan was a Digital Arts Fellow supported by the National Endowment for the Arts at AS220 Industries, where she taught creative coding and physical computing workshops. She has been a studio practice advisor for both independent artists and students at San Francisco Art Institute, California College of Art, and Arts Council England. Splan is currently a mentor at NEW INC, where she advises interdisciplinary practitioners working at the intersections of Art, Science, and Technology.

ACADEMIC TEACHING

2022 Hunter College, Integrated Media Arts Program, New York, NY (Spring Course: Data Bodies–Procedural Aesthetics and the Computational Imagination)

2018 Stanford University, Art & Art History Department, Palo Alto, CA (Fall Courses: Embodied Interfaces; Data as Material)

2016 University of Maine, Department of New Media, Orono, ME (4-Week Fall Seminar: Art & Biology)

2015 Illinois State University, College of Fine Arts, Normal, IL (3-Week Fall Seminar: Art & Biology)

2013 SUNY Purchase College, Department of Art & Design, Purchase, NY (Winter Course: Design for the Web)

2013 Marymount Manhattan College, Department of Art, New York, NY (Spring Course: Digital Imaging)

2011 Stanford University, Art & Art History Department, Palo Alto, CA (Spring Courses: Art & Biology; Digital Art)

2005 Mills College, Intermedia Arts Department, Oakland, CA (Spring Course: Electronic Arts)

2009 Northgate High School, Walnut Creek, CA (Senior Art Project Mentor)

2007-08 San Francisco Art Institute, School of Studio Practice, Low Residency MFA Program, San Francisco, CA (Instructor for Independent Study)

2005-04 California College of Art, Fine Arts Department, MFA Program, San Francisco, CA (Studio Practice Instructor)

WORKSHOPS

2023 Genspace Community Bio Lab, Brooklyn, NY (Workshop—Sticky Settings: Molecular Worldbuilding in Blender with artist Laura Splan)

2022 Tang Teaching Museum, Saratoga Springs, NY (Workshop—Spinning Down: A Yarn Workshop with Laura Splan)

2021 Fredrickson Family Innovation Lab, in partnership with the Quick Center for the Arts, in collaboration with Dr. Daniel Fried (Workshop—Tickling the Bonds: Creative Engagement with Molecular Visualization Tools)

2021 Museum of Arts & Design, Presented by CAA ARTexchange, New York, NY (Workshop—Precarious Structures: Collaborative Unraveling & Weaving Project)

2020 Coalesce Center for Biological Arts, University at Buffalo, NY (Bioart Workshop—Transgressing Boundaries: Bacterial Transformation)

2019 AS220 Industries, Providence, RI, NEA Digital Arts Fellowship Workshops, Supported by National Endowment for the Arts
Reimagining Craft Through Code: Intro to Processing
Sensors and Interactive Circuits: Intro to Arduino

2012-13 3rd Ward, Brooklyn, NY (Digital Media Workshops for Imaging and Video)

2012 Morbid Anatomy Library’s Observatory, Brooklyn, NY (Workshop & Lecture: Dissection as Studio Practice)

2009 Shakerag Workshops, St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School, Sewanee, TN (Summer Studio Intensive—From Pixel to Print:  Digital Imaging and Inkjet Printing)

2002 Center for Electronic Arts, San Francisco, CA (Web Design Workshops)

1996-2012 Bay Area Video Coalition, Education Department, San Francisco, CA (Staff Instructor for Digital Media Workshops, MediaLink, YouthLink, Private Tutorials)

STUDIO PRACTICE ADVISING

1996–Present Plexus Creative: Radical Imagination+Practical Skills, Online & Onsite (Studio Practice Instruction & Advising for organizations and individuals)

2023 NEW INC XR Track, New Museum, New York, NY (Professional Practices Presenter & Discussant)

2022 NEW INC, New Museum, New York, NY (Cultural Incubator Mentor)

2023 University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, Lien Truong’s MFA Teaching Practicum (Professional Practices Workshop / Studio Visits with Graduate Students)

2021 Austin Peay State University, Department of Art + Design, Senior Thesis Projects, with Professor Evie Woltil Richner (Visiting Artist Q & A)

2021 The Crit Lab, New York, NY (Visiting Artist & Critic)

2021 Arts Council England, Advisor for DYCP Awardee (Private Studio Practice Advising)

2021 University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, Lien Truong’s MFA Teaching Practicum (Professional Practices Workshop / Studio Visits with Graduate Students)

2020 University of Connecticut, Art & Art History Department, Online (Studio Visits with Graduate Students)

2011 Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, Department of Art & Art History, Professional Art Practices Graduate Seminar (Visiting Artist/Discussant)

STUDIO VISITS WITH VISITING INSTITUTIONS

2023 LUCA School of the Arts, Brussels, BE, Studio Visit & Artist Talk (Brooklyn Studio)

2021 Austin Peay State University, Department of Art + Design, Senior Thesis Projects, with Professor Evie Woltil Richner (Online Q & A)

2017 Alfred University, School of Art and Design, Interactive Media Studio with Professor Barbara Lattanzi (in Institute for Electronic Arts studio)

2016 University of Georgia, School of Art, Interim Semester Seminar with Professor Marni Shindelman’s Class (Brooklyn Studio)

2016 University of North Texas, Department of Studio Art, New Media Art with Professor Liss LaFleur’s Class (Brooklyn Studio)

2010 San Francisco State University, Art Department, Graduate Seminar with Professor Lewis deSoto’s Class (Brooklyn Studio)

Scientist Laura Splan teaching a Molecular Worldbuilding with Blender STEAM Workshop at Genspace
Laura Splan teaching "Molecular Worldbuilding in Blender" workshop at Genspace, 2023, Photo by Nidhi Nagabhushan
SELECTED TEACHING ARCHIVE
Laura Splan teaching "Spinning Down: A Yarn Workshop"Photo Courtesy Tang Teaching Museum, Skidmore College
Scientist Laura Splan teaching a Molecular Worldbuilding with Blender STEAM Workshop at Genspace