An exhibition of artworks at the Akron Zoo is the culmination of a year long drawing and sculpture studio project examining the relationships between animals and humans. Myers School of Art faculty worked with Akron Zoological Park staff to link the educational and creative mission of the University of Akron’s Myers School of Art with the conservation and educational goals of the Akron Zoological Park. Sculptor Adelaide Paul visited the Myers School of Art in January as an artist in residence. Ms. Paul’s work investigates the varied and sometimes conflicting relationships between humans and animals. Trained in veterinary medicine, Ms. Paul provides a bridge between art and science. She was the recipient of a Pew Fellowship in the Arts in 2007. A panel at the zoo in the spring involved biologists, zoologists, and artists discussing the relationships between humans and animals.

The Department of Polymer Science and the Mary Schiller Myers School of Art at the University of Akron are pleased to host a lecture by acclaimed artist Alice Aycock as part of the Synapse series, fostering enlightened collaborations between art and science. This lecture is made possible through a grant from the National Science Foundation. Quoting art historian Robert Hobbs, “Aycock relies on paradigms, cybernetics, phenomenology, information overload, outdated scientific thinking, and computer programming to create a ‘complex’ that is architectural and sculptural as well as mental and emotional.” Students visited Ms. Aycock's sculpture fabricator in Dover, OH

Marius Watz's work explores the integration of virtual intelligence programming into design. His kenetic images merge organic with geometric abstractions. The project involved an exhibition of Marius's rapid prototypes, laser cut drawings, and projections. Marius conducted a processing workshop for design and studio students. 60' projections were presented for three nights on the main theatre building. A panel discussion between Marius Watz and Biologist Paco Moore explored the connections between the processes of evolution and design. This was the second installment of the Synapse Series forming enlightened collaborations between art and science.

The Synapse series is an ongoing project that has the goal of forming enlightened collaborations between art and science disciplines. A retrospective of artist Diana Cooper's work was featured at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, curated by Margo Crutchfield. University of Akron students served as interns in the installation process. Diana Cooper's work present structures that mimic political and social environments as well as digital and organic networks. A panel discussion between Diana Cooper and Case Western Reserve decision scientist Fred Collopy explored cognition, the creative process and the psychological space of architecture.

Curator, Intersections: James Hyde, Fabian Marcaccio, Lydia Dona, Julia Fish, Joe Fyfe, Richmond Burton, and Steve Roden Myers School of Art, University of Akron, Akron, OH. Show explores architectural space in contemporary painting. Curator, Student exhibition of painters from Kent State University, Cleveland Institute of Art, and University of Akron, Akron, OH. DVD available upon request.

Co-Curator with Gregory Whitkopp, Director Cranbrook Museum of Art, Steve Mumford: Drawings from Life in Iraq Myers School of Art, Akron, OH; Cranbrook Museum of Art, Detroit, MI; Moore Space, Miami, FL. Exhibition on life during wartime, Iraq conflict. Exhibition required loans of Winslow Homer, Goya images from the Cleveland Museum of Art, and private collection of regional artist, Paul Travis. Exhibition was featured on front page of Arts Newspaper.

Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, Cleveland, OH Artists included Paul Yanko, Charles Kanwischer, Susan Umbenhour, Christine Kuper, and Matthew Kolodziej – Curator, "Small Monuments," Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH Artists: Daniel Dove, Paul Yanko, Christine Kuper, Susan Umbenhour, Julia Fish, Matthew Kolodziej, and Charles Kanwischer. Exhibition of work exploring roll of monuments in contemporary public and private space.

Internationally recognized gestural color field painter and printmaker, Melissa Meyer is featured in a retrospective of 30 years of printmaking. Meyer's work is work is included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art. Her gestural abstractions filled with movement and light suggest a temporal and lyrical existence.

Arranged for traveling show to come to Myers, James Siena, Paintings Myers School of Art, University of Akron. James Siena is known for his intricate abstract paintings of repetitious geometric forms derived through sets of specific pictorial strategies. This exhibition originated at the San Francisco Art Institute, curated by Karen Moss. Unique to the University of Akron exhibition was a 20' x 20' wall drawing executed by students. Work explores artificial intelligence and abstraction.

Stephan's work explores mapping and narrative abstraction. Critic Peter Schjeldahl described Gary Stephan's paintings as a place where "perception and metaphor are set in quivering tension, subtly and delightfully. We savor their interactions as if they were characters in a play or film." This exhibition of nine recent paintings by Gary Stephan examine the use of narrative in abstraction. Mr. Stephan's work is included in numerous public and private collections including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum