Nine teams of Sacramento-area artists and researchers are about to show off nine months of work in a free public exhibition at the SMUD Museum of Science and Curiosity. ARx Live takes place Thursday, November 12, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at MOSAC, located at 400 Jibboom St., and will feature original pieces spanning visual, digital, performative, literary and mixed media that translate complex scientific research into something the public can actually experience.
The event marks the culmination of ARx Sacramento, described by Aggie Square as a program that pairs professional artists and scientific researchers in true cross-disciplinary collaboration meant to make complex scientific ideas accessible to broader audiences. Each selected team received an honorarium for supplies and nine months to work together on a piece in any medium they chose, according to Aggie Square. As Sacramento Press reports, ARx Sacramento is a nine-month program pairing regional artists with researchers, and it culminates in ARx Live, the public exhibition and presentation event set for next month.
Who's Behind the Pairings
The inaugural Sacramento cohort brings together a wide mix of creative and scientific backgrounds. Among the artists are Sunroop Kaur, an interdisciplinary artist based in the Bay Area; Taner Ilhan Pasamehmetoglu, a multidisciplinary visual artist exploring storytelling, sustainability and cultural hybridity; Yared Portillo, a community-based artist, educator and organizer from Santa María; Jennifer Lugris, a Uruguayan Korean American painter based in Sacramento; Jessica Wimbley, a multimedia artist and curator based in Sacramento; Jodi Connelly, whose work examines the relationship between people and the natural environment; Melissa Uroff, an artist and photographer; Muzi Li Rowe, who works in photography, sculpture, installation and drawing; and Ruby Chacón, a Sacramento-based artist and high school educator — per the same Sacramento Press account.
On the research side, the teams pulled in expertise from UC Davis and beyond. The roster includes Gabriel Simmons, an AI researcher whose applied work spans food, life sciences and cultural heritage; Elizabeth Lopez, a wildlife biologist with Sequoia Ecological Consulting; Leigh Ann Simmons, a professor of nursing at the UC Davis Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing; Geoanna Bautista and Jennifer Rosenthal, both of the UC Davis School of Medicine; Drew Cingel of the UC Davis Department of Communication; Angie Louie of the UC Davis Department of Biomedical Engineering; Nicole Kravitz-Wirtz of the UC Davis Centers for Violence Prevention; and Dave Hogsett, an industrial biologist and managing director of R&D California at Novonesis, the article notes.
Modeled on a Phoenix Program Now in Its Fifth Year
ARx Sacramento is modeled on the Artist + Researcher program at the Phoenix Bioscience Core in Arizona, which is entering its fifth year, Sacramento Press reports. That Phoenix model pairs local artists with researchers and scientists from regional universities, research institutions and biotech companies, according to Phoenix Bioscience Core, which notes that past ARx teams worked together over nine months to transform life-science research into art, producing 10 pieces across media including sculpture, painting, augmented reality and live performance. The Arizona Science Center's version of the program, which launched in spring 2022, had completed three cohorts by October 2024, with the third cohort alone producing eight works spanning sculpture, painting and digital media, according to the Arizona Science Center.
A similar format has also played out on the East Coast. The ARx Philadelphia Cohort paired nine researchers with nine artists for a 10-month collaboration to create science-based artwork, according to uCity Square. And the most recent Phoenix-area cohort, ARx4, spanned disciplines from visual arts and performance to health and technology across nine artist-researcher teams, per Artist Researcher.
Official Backing and What Happens Next
ARx Sacramento is powered by Wexford Science & Technology and the City of Sacramento Office of Arts & Culture, according to a post by Jessica Wimbley documenting her own participation in the inaugural 2025–26 cohort. The program also receives support from the City of Sacramento Office of Arts & Culture and MOSAC, and its advisory council — made up of academic, business, creative and community leaders — helped guide program development and ensure regional perspectives were reflected, Sacramento Press reports.
Carlos Gonzalez-Jaime, who was named MOSAC's executive director and was scheduled to begin the role on October 1, according to a statement from MOSAC board president Steve Hansen, said MOSAC welcomes ARx Live and that the collaboration supports STEAM education by connecting science, art and innovation, per Sacramento Press. Monique Brown, knowledge community director at Wexford Science & Technology, said ARx Live connects world-class research with the surrounding community, while Megan Van Voorhis, the city's interim assistant city manager, said the event realizes a vision of Sacramento as a city where creativity and research thrive side by side, the outlet reports.
ARx Live is presented by Wexford Science & Technology and Aggie Square, is free to attend, and registration is available through Luma, according to Sacramento Press. The nine artworks will remain on view at MOSAC through December 15, giving the public more than a month to see how each pairing turned research into art after nine months of collaboration.
