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.

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.

Quantum Castle

Exhibition: Quantum Castle
February 5 – March 20
Lamar Dodd Building Suite Gallery (3rd floor)
https://art.uga.edu/exhibition/quantum-castle/

There exists a realm beyond the visible — always present, ever shifting. Deep within this imaginal space lies the Quantum Castle, where visitors learn of the Time Guardian’s quest and begin a whimsical journey. Made interactive through games, riddles, and activities, works of art engage with cross-disciplinary ideas from quantum mechanics, philosophy, world spiritualities, and depth psychology.

The exhibition is coordinated by Arts Collaborative Research Affiliate Jeanne Marie Martineau and featured artists Adah Bennion, Eve Brown, Brian George, Jana Ghezawi, Clara-Beth Hamill, and Maddy Underwood.

Supported in part by the UGA Arts Collaborative.

Conversation: Benjamin Wolff

Arts Collaborative Conversation: Benjamin Wolff
Friday, January 30 at noon
Lamar Dodd Building Room S360

Benjamin Wolff will virtually join the Arts Collaborative for an informal conversation about creative leadership. He is a New York City-based writer, speaker, and cellist who has been a Forbes Leadership contributor since 2017, reporting on insights for business from the world of the arts. Wolff graduated from Columbia University with a degree in history and studied cello and chamber music at the Juilliard School and Rice University. He is the author of The Value of Immeasurable Things: Why the Arts—and Artists—Are Essential to the Future of Work.

https://www.bwolff.com