An Evening of Art + Science: Gala & auction feature new artworks inspired by U-M medical research

ANN ARBOR, Mich., April 29, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Some virtuosos express their talents through clay, paint, wood, words or dance.  For others, the media are the very cells and molecules of the human body.

Each expert excels in his or her chosen field, and on one unprecedented night in May, they will come together in Detroit for a gala celebration: An Evening of Art + Science.

This unique fundraising event will unveil the works inspired by the pairing of 11 physician-researchers of the University of Michigan Health System's A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute, with noted artists from the Detroit area and beyond. 

For months, the artists have been meeting with their scientific counterparts to discuss the creativity that abounds in their respective disciplines, and to gain ideas and inspiration from the medical research being conducted by these dedicated clinician-scientists from the University of Michigan.

On May 22, the results will be revealed when the scientists, the artists and supporters come together at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) to discuss the collaborations.

The art pieces will be sold at auction and the proceeds used to fund the Taubman Emerging Scholars program, which helps early-career clinician-scientists establish their laboratories. 

Meanwhile, the eminent senior scholars of the Taubman Institute are conducting groundbreaking research on a variety of devastating diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, ALS, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes and multiple sclerosis, among many others.

In less than six years since the founding of the institute – part of the University of Michigan Medical School -- the research it has sponsored has produced more than 50 human clinical trials of potentially life-saving treatments.

The work of the Taubman Institute is funded solely by private philanthropy. The Evening of Art + Science will raise funds to help maintain the pipeline of life-altering medical discoveries, and will showcase for the Metro Detroit community the amazing breakthroughs that are emerging from the laboratories of the Taubman Scholars, all of whom are practicing physicians and U-M faculty in addition to being active scientific researchers.

Among the artists whose work will be auctioned are choreographer and theater director Aku Kadogo, painter Simone DeSousa, interactive artist Osman Khan, Lynne Avadenka and the team of Cezanne Charles and John Marshall.

The show has been curated by Lynn Crawford, a board member of MOCAD and a distinguished novelist and art critic.

Some of the scientists featured in the project include Valerie Castle, M.D., a children's cancer researcher and chair of the U-M Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases;  Parag Patil, M.D., Ph.D., a U-M neurosurgeon who is conducting the first intraspinal injections of stem cells into patients with ALS; Ronald Buckanovich,  M.D., Ph.D., an associate professor of gynecology who is testing a new drug for ovarian cancer patients, and Eva Feldman, M.D, Ph.D., the Russell N. DeJong Professor of Neurology, director of the Taubman Institute and principal investigator of the ALS stem cell trial.

For a complete list of the artists and researchers participating in the project, and their biographies, visit www.taubmaninstitute.org/artscience.  

Dinner tickets for a farm-to-table culinary experience are available for a donation of $500.

Tickets for an after-party featuring music, dancing and signature cocktails are available for $75 ($50 if purchased by May 1).

Tickets that include the dinner, after-party and a special VIP reception before the event are $1,000.

To purchase dinner and VIP tickets, or for more information, contact Gail Ball at (248) 705-0287.

After-party tickets are available at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/art-science-tickets-10870370571

All proceeds benefit the Taubman Institute's Emerging Scholars Program for early career physician-scientists at the University of Michigan Health System.

About the Taubman Institute: 
In 2008 Michigan businessman, philanthropist and noted patron of the arts A. Alfred Taubman provided the initial funds to establish the institute bearing his name at the University of Michigan Medical School. Its mission is to provide the university's finest medical scientists the freedom, resources and collaborative environment they need to push the boundaries of medical discovery, to produce breakthroughs in cures to speed the development of effective treatment for some of the most devastating illnesses. Currently, 21 Taubman Scholars are advancing their research with the assistance of grants from the institute.  

SOURCE University of Michigan Health System