Literature: Insight and Exchange: An evaluation of the Wellcome Trust’s Sciart programme

In 1996, the Wellcome Trust launched the Sciart funding programme in response to a growing field of artists embarking on interdisciplinary practice in conjunction with scientists. The original aim of the scheme was to fund visual arts projects that involved an artist and a scientist in collaboration to research, develop and produce work that explored contemporary biological and medical science.

Over ten years, Sciart supported 124 projects funding £3 million worth of awards. The scheme is considered by a range of people involved in the arts and science sectors to have been integral in supporting the development of a unique community of practitioners, a new form of interdisciplinary practice, and a body of artistic work relating to science, as well as having a significant influence on the public's engagement with science. However, much of the evidence of its long-term impact was previously anecdotal and undocumented.

Following the closure of the scheme in 2006 and the launch of the new Arts Awards scheme, the Trust commissioned the Engine Room at University of the Arts to independently document the legacy of the programme and consider the long-term impact of the scheme and its funded projects to help influence future strategy for the Trust's new arts programme.

The aims of the research were to:

• evaluate the impact the programme has had on the arts community and artistic practice
• gain an understanding of the impact Sciart has had on the scientists involved
• evaluate the impact the scheme has had on the public’s engagement with science
• research the influence the programme has had on the wider field of arts and science.

Download full report [PDF 2.59MB]

Download summary [PDF 156KB]

Credit: Paul Glinkowski and Anne Bamford (2009). 

This resource came out of the 2016 Wellcome Trust Art of Health: exploring creative engagement with health Research workshop. Visit the workshop page on Mesh for more resources like this plus information on the workshop and its outcomes.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.