The Point:Engineering the Imagination

Exploring the intersection and future of the arts and STEM

How do art and science work together to move us – to awaken curiosity, empathy, and awe? What happens when engineering, light, sound, and structure become pathways to self-discovery?

Inspired by a constellation of projects across ArtsEmerson’s recent seasons: Noli Timere, with its monumental woven architecture designed by Janet Echelman; Manual Cinema’s The 4th Witch, with its interplay of light, shadow, and storytelling; and Theater Mitu’s Utopian Hotline, which transformed the Charles Hayden Planetarium into a theater of possibility – this conversation invites us to reflect on how imagination can be engineered to create spaces for emotional connection, sensory wonder, and renewed ways of seeing ourselves and the world.

Panelists will explore how interdisciplinary collaboration – between artists, scientists, and technologists – can spark deeper modes of engagement and reveal how design, movement, and innovation touch the human spirit.

Join us for a conversation with Dr. Ilya Vidrin and Alissa Cardone – at the intersection of creativity and discovery, where art and STEM meet to illuminate not only what we can build, but who we can become.