“The right to the city is far more than the individual liberty to access urban resources: it is a right to change ourselves by changing the city.”
Muser Collective - Executive Director
We inspire communities to reimagine and transform public spaces through creative placemaking and place-based learning. We expand access to science and scientific practices, engaging communities traditionally underserved by museums and institutions. Through research and shared insights, we empower similar efforts nationwide.
2019 Middle Ground: Civic Center, San Francisco NSF Grant 1713638
Middle Ground is an exploration into human social interactions in the middle of San Francisco’s vibrant Civic Center. Social scientists have studied how we think, feel, and behave in relation to other people for decades. Their investigations have shed light on bias and stereotyping, humor and generosity, how we work together, and how we pull apart into tribes.
Our studio is made up of a small group of scientists, engineers, artists, architects, and educators who work closely to synthesize and apply what we learn from our site partners and end-users to find creative and provocative ways to design exhibits, artworks and experiences for learning about the local and global environment. The focus of these new initiatives is to engage visitors and the general public in the critical environmental questions of our era. In citywide park settings, a diversity of people can come together, generating potential for new points of view and creative responses to complex societal problems, including climate change.
Through a place-based approach to learning we explore ways to imaginatively engage and gently provoke noticing and understanding of this remarkable landscape. Applied to the broader world, this approach can be a transformational tool for communities to reinvent their cultural and communal landscapes.
2019 Middle Ground: Civic Center, San Francisco NSF Grant 1713638
Principal Investigator: Shawn Lani
Co-Principal Investigator: Dr. Joshua Gutwill
Middle Ground is an exploration into human social interactions in the middle of San Francisco’s vibrant Civic Center. Social scientists have studied how we think, feel, and behave in relation to other people for decades. Their investigations have shed light on bias and stereotyping, humor and generosity, how we work together, and how we pull apart into tribes.
