Art+Fog Collective banner: deer graze a golden meadow softened by drifting fog.

Art+Fog Collective (2024–current): California fog is not just a cooling veil over the coastline; it is a vital force that sustains life, supports ecosystems, and fosters a connection between humans and the natural world. At UC Santa Cruz, Faculty members Peter Weiss-Penzias and Jennifer Parker collaborate with visiting artist Anja Ulfeldt as the Art+Fog Collective to inspire people to think about fog and share how creative ideas can lead to smart solutions for the future.

The Algae Society BioArt Design Lab banner, the name beside a blur of bright green algae.

The Algae Society BioArt Design Lab (2018–current): A collective of artists, designers, and scientists working internationally to share the beauty and wonder of algae through workshops, exhibitions, and publications. Several of The Algae Society’s founding members worked closely with OpenLab and Professor Jennifer Parker during their academic careers at UC Santa Cruz.

Poison Oak Commune banner: a collage of leaves, bark and soil photographs under green lettering.

Poison Oak Commune (2024–current): an online platform of art, ecology, and life led by UCSC Environmental Art and Social Practice MFA students with support from Jennifer Parker and OpenLab

Art + Genomics banner: a green circuit board and the gleaming platter of an opened hard drive.

Arts + Genomics Initiative (2019–2024): A collaboration to realize the potential of multidisciplinary research by developing creative artworks for the general public to see, understand, and respond to genomics research.

Art + Astrophysics banner: thin orange line drawings of instruments beside a black hole ringed by stars.

Art + Astrophysics (2010–current): The lab works closely with OpenLab founding Professors Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz and Jennifer Parker with support from the UCSC NSF REU- Lamat Summer Research Program, OpenLab, and the SLUG: Supercomputer lab for Undergraduates.

From Data to Art: a virtual gallery with charts and maps hung on dark walls above a blue floor.

Data Art Collective (2021):  led by Jessica Kendall-Bar, an Ecology & Evolutionary Biology PhD Student and OpenLab Director Jennifer Parker, to establish a data visualization group and to build a virtual art exhibition.

Art + Design Placemaking banner: the program name beside a map of California washed in watercolor.

UC Placemaking (2019–2021): As a cultural practice, placemaking values diversity and equity, providing access to those often underrepresented or excluded from the public process. UC Berkeley, Davis, Santa Cruz, and Santa Barbara supported and amplified the public, place-based research of our UC artists, designers, and media practitioners who are working across fields in collaboration with multiple stakeholders to enact social change.

IDEA Hub banner: the logo over overlapping shapes of gold and blue, the UC Santa Cruz wordmark in the corner.

IDEA Hub (2018–2020): A campus-wide initiative for students was created to spread social and creative entrepreneurship at UC Santa Cruz. A network of incubation facilities, fellowships, seminars, workshops, and mentorships provides students space to think critically about the challenges facing society and propose pathways for meaningful intervention.

Blue Trail banner, Imagination + Innovation for Ocean Sustainability, over churning teal ocean water.

Blue Trail (2014–2016): Imagination + Innovations for Ocean Sustainability brought together the vision and expertise of exciting leaders from diverse fields, including the arts, science, design, placemaking, and environmental fields. http://bluetrail.ucsc.edu/

OpenLab + DANM Mechatronics banner: thousands of fine gold lines streaking across black toward the DANM letters.

OpenLab + DANM Mechatronics (2009–2016): This collaborative research cohort at UC Santa Cruz creates interactive art and design projects as part of OpenLab’s collaborative Art + Science research initiative at UCSC.

sonicSENSE banner: red circuit boards, a hand pressing a bronze bone switch, and a small drawn skeleton.

SonicSENSE (2008–2017): By utilizing the creative diversity of computational media and traditional visual art practices, sonicSENSE fosters a space for sharing, questioning, and exploring interdisciplinary frameworks, methodologies, and experiences.