Art, Science, Culture and the Nature of Nantucket with the Visual Artist, Rita Leduc

In part one of this two-part episode, Dr. Rich Blundell speaks with the visual artist Rita Leduc. Rita and Dr. Blundell have been collaborating on a series of projects that explore the boundaries of art, science, nature and culture. Many of these are grounded in the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. You can check out these projects through this link: https://www.ritaleduc.com/site-hubbard-brook-experimental-forest Now we are expanding our collaborative model and bringing it to Nantucket. As an artist who works directly with the natural world, Rita brings a unique perspective that might help us disentangle the perceived contradictions between art and science. Her process also highlights how nature may help us create a more beautiful culture. In this episode we begin to unpack Rita’s artistic practice, which sheds light on how the culture and nature of Nantucket may have contributed to Maria Mitchell’s outlook too. Next week we’ll take a deeper dive into Rita’s process and introduce a series of really cool place-based art projects that are taking shape on Nantucket.