2026 a2ru National Conference

2026 a2ru National Conference
Call for Proposals
Deadline: March 23

https://a2ru.org/event/2026-a2ru-conference-how-we-thrive-arts-health-and-human-flourishing/

a2ru’s next annual conference will take place October 22-24, 2026, at the University of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee. This will be an in-person conference.

This year’s theme, “How We Thrive: Arts, Health and Human Flourishing,” explores the many ways that the arts can drive health and wellness for individuals and communities. The rapidly expanding, international field of arts in health has established foundational research and continues to innovate across disciplines and in a range of clinical and community settings.

We are accepting proposals for workshops, presentations, panels, and posters/artwork.

Track One: Arts, Health and Human Flourishing
Track Two: Practical Applications for Arts Integration in Higher Education
Track Three: Steps Toward Change

Composer x Researcher Collaborative Concert

Composer x Researcher Collaborative Concert
Saturday, February 28 at 4 PM
Warnell Building 2, Room 100

https://cicr.uga.edu/icc/

Land: Richard Arndorfer + Bruno Ubiali and Wezddy Del Toro Orozco

Water: Jared Tubbs + Jon Calabria

Fire: Sydney Passmore + Tommy Cabe, Eileen Joseph, and Aharna Sarkar

Entanglement: Logan Wynns and Akanksha

Murmurations Reimagined: envisioned by Liz Osbourn and performed by the Athens Dance Collective

The Center for Integrative Conservation Research hosts the 2026 Integrative Conservation Conference, a place for collective learning and collaboration, bringing students, researchers, and practitioners together to share their work with each other. With this year’s theme of “Centering Community,” we hope to foster spaces where we can engage with the varied human, more-than-human, and beyond-human communities – communities of people, plants, wildlife, fungi, microbes, and beyond. We also hope to foster dialogue across natural and social sciences, humanities, and the arts, highlighting interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and antidisciplinary approaches to conservation and environmental research.

2026 sponsors and collaborators: the Owens Institute for Behavioral Research, the UGA Arts Collaborative, Graduate School, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, Odum School of Ecology, Department of Anthropology, and the Department of Geography, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and the ICON Student Organization.

Creativity and Collaboration

Creativity and Collaboration
Fall 2026 GradFIRST Seminar

https://grad.uga.edu/gradfirst/seminars/

Open to first-year graduate students

Creativity and collaboration are fundamental to addressing today’s socio-environmental challenges. This seminar will include arts-based, STEM-friendly activities developed by UGA researchers from the arts, humanities, and sciences designed to help students to think creatively, to collaborate across disciplines, and to work with people with different perspectives, knowledge, and values. It will be an engaging and fun way to enhance the creativity that you bring to your own graduate work and your capacity to effectively participate in collaborative teams.

Facilitator: Mark Callahan (UGA Arts Collaborative)

Fridays
2:55-3:50 PM
CRN:60768

Webinar: Creative Labor Issues for Arts Graduates

Webinar: Creative Labor Issues for Arts Graduates: Navigating the Post-AI Landscape
Wednesday, February 25 at 3 PM

https://a2ru.org/event/creative-labor-issues-for-arts-graduates-navigating-the-post-ai-landscape/

As an a2ru member institution, UGA students, faculty, and staff are eligible for free registration.

AI cannot replace human creativity and skills, nor can it serve as a co-creator.

These were foundational convictions of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) when they successfully advocated for the rights of creatives in Hollywood during their latest contract negotiations. Please join us as a2ru presents Jillian Arnold, president of IATSE Local 695, who was a crucial voice providing the evidence to successfully negotiate these tricky terms on behalf of 40,000 creative workers in the United States and 10,000 in Canada. You’ll hear about what’s at stake in these negotiations, and what has been done (and still needs to be done) on behalf of all creators to safeguard their artistry and livelihoods. Join a discussion of what that means for how we educate arts students and prepare them to protect their creativity in the workforce; monitor ethical issues; and create art within and beyond the higher education sector.

Continue reading “Webinar: Creative Labor Issues for Arts Graduates”

Conversation: Sustainability in the Arts

Arts Collaborative Conversation: Sustainability in the Arts
Friday, February 27 at noon
Lamar Dodd Building Room S360

How can artistic practices and lives become more sustainable? What are some creative ways to engage with Zero Waste UGA? Join artist Gabrielle Gagné for a conversation about materials, processes, and sustainability practice in the arts. Gagne explores materials and bodily limits, focusing on what can be found and reused rather than bought. This conversation will also feature hands-on material samples!

Gabrielle Gagné is a French-Canadian papermaker and MFA student in the Lamar Dodd School of Art. They hold an interdisciplinary bachelors degree from Bishop’s University and the University of Sherbrooke in Quebec.

Zero Waste UGA is is an interdisciplinary experiential learning initiative to foster a culture of sustainability through waste reduction. For more information, visit:

https://sustainability.uga.edu/campus/zero-waste/zero-waste-uga/

Hosted by the Arts Collaborative student organization.

Reading Room: a2ru Challenge Grants

Reading Room: a2ru Challenge Grants Catalyze Interdisciplinary Student Research
https://a2ru.org/a2ru-challenge-grants-catalyze-interdisciplinary-student-research/

One winning team — Richie Arndorfer, Eliana Gelman, Nicholas Myers, and Jeanne Marie Martineau, all from the University of Georgia — proposed HeartSong, a project to develop a group-based singing biofeedback system that both translates heart rate variability data into images and composes music in real time. Using sensors, real-time visuals, and live-looped vocals, they sought to transform nervous system data into a collaborative art experience — part meditation, part musical composition. The project embodied the intersection of its four team members’ interests and expertise: voice as cultural expression, music composition that responds to audio and data in real time, group vocalization and cognition, and human-computer interaction.

Image: a2ru conference attendees from Penn State University participate in the HeartSong vocalization activity

Making Science Move

Making science move: Organoids project re-imagines adrenal glands through models and motion

By Kylie Earnhardt
February 3, 2026
https://research.uga.edu/news/making-science-move-organoids-project-re-imagines-adrenal-glands-through-models-and-motion/

In 2024, University of Georgia Associate Professor Nadja Zeltner received a grant to advance research in human cell generation, including adrenal gland organoids used to study disease. Adrenal gland organoids are tiny, lab-grown versions of your body’s stress response control center—adrenal glands release hormones in response to stress or excitement, regulate energy and metabolism, manage blood pressure, support immune response, and more. Supported by a subsequent seed grand and the UGA Arts Collaborative, this project expanded to explore how art and science intersect to create new perspectives across disciplines.