VIRTUAL REALITY IN THE GALLERY
In 2017, I wrote and received a grant to purchase one Oculus and one Vive for the MU Gallery. This grant, funded by TFAC, allowed our Gallery to refit our glass cloud lounge into an interactive VR Digital Gallery. Since August, 2018, we have been curating parallel programming to supplement and contextualize our current exhibitions. In the first ten weeks, we saw a 76% increase in Gallery attendance. In addition to JUST attending, I have seen more engaged patrons and had such wonderful conversations about our exhibits.
THE SEVEN
The Seven is an interactive human rights experience.
Through independently created events, The Seven empowers individuals to discuss and learn what it means to organize, advocate for and influence positive change in their community. These events include interdisciplinary conversations, performances and research as a call to action. The Seven aims to advance a condition where participants recognize a change they can make in their world. This project is a collaboration between the MU Gallery and The Human Family.
THE OPEN HOUSE
This project, developed by a group led by Tiffany Fier and Anthony Faris, is designed to intervene within public and private areas, such as shopping centers, neighborhoods or apartment complexes offering opportunities for interaction among disparate groups.
The Open House is an itinerant modular space appearing to contain all the elements of a Midwestern home with the exception that its intention is to have the community take ownership of it’s resources and mission. The “house” intervenes in locations that reflect cultural division, may benefit from diversity programming, or possibly wish to celebrate the diversity of their community
VIRTUAL REALITY FOR A LEARNING LAB
In 2017, I recieved another grant to develop a campus wide Virtual Reality Learning Lab. This Fall, we ordered the first equipment and partnered with some really wonderful people at the NDSU Library. We expect to launch a pilot program in Spring 2019 with 9 dedicated Faculty interested in the role VR can play in teaching, learning and research.
ANTHONY FARIS 