The third iteration of PST: Art, once called simply Pacific Standard Time, begins in September with a regional focus on the intersection of art and science. With at least $20 million in funding from Los Angeles’ Getty Center, more than 80 Southern California institutions have had four years to prepare through scholarly research trips, commissioning works from artists, excavating archives, loaning artifacts and hosting events.

The natural sciences in San Diego are one reason the Getty has awarded local institutions $2.09 million for PST: Art and Science Collide. UCSD, the San Diego Public Library, the La Jolla Historical Society, the San Diego Museum of Art (SDMA), the Mingei International Museum, and the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD) are among the venues where PST: Art exhibitions will be on display beginning in mid-September.

“We are not surprised that San Diego/La Jolla is such a strong pick for this edition, as there is an incredible history of science in this region.” said Heather MacDonald, senior program officer at the Getty Foundation. MacDonald explained that the Getty put out an open call in 2019 and received 150 expressions of interest. Of those, 80 were selected to submit a full proposal, and 40 received full funding. Others, such as the New Children’s Museum, received funding as part of the second phase of programming.

By adding a science theme to what was previously a focus on artistic culture and history, local institutions like the Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institute of Oceanography are participating in PST:Art for the first time. Others, like the Mingei Museum, received full exhibition funding, rather than just program funding, for the first time, allowing the folk art museum to host its largest exhibition ever, occupying the entire second floor of the Balboa Park building.

“The Getty’s structure is designed to accommodate larger exhibitions,” said Kathryn Kanjo, director and CEO of MCASD, which has a group show of more than 80 sick and disabled artists in “For Dear Life: Art, Medicine and Disability.” The first-ever survey of American art responding to unruly bodies from the 1960s to the present is also the largest exhibition of art by square footage. The theme emerged, Kanjo said, because “we were looking at the way artists respond to science, and we think that often it comes from a personal perspective. Other times it reflects larger cultural movements.”

Kanjo praised the initiative for being broad enough that each institution can respond to the topic while still sticking to its identity. “It’s great to be part of this larger effort, but it’s also an initiative that allows each institution to propose its own type of project,” she said.

Another groundbreaking exhibition is taking place at SDMA, “Wonders of Creation: Art, Science, and Innovation in the Islamic World.” Curator Dr. Ladan Akbarnia believes there has been no other exhibition of this size on Islamic civilization in San Diego. Akbarnia was the author of the project proposal submitted to the Getty shortly after she was hired by SDMA in 2019. A general theme like geometry seemed outdated to Akbarnia. “Even though I knew this would be the first exhibition on Islamic visual culture in San Diego, and that ultimately those of us who work in this field often have to introduce this material to people, rather than expect them to know what some of these images mean or what languages ​​are involved, I didn’t want to treat this as a general introduction,” Akbarnia explained.

The exhibition details innovations in scientific theory and craft practices in the Islamic world within a 13th-century text that describes the wonders of the universe. Among the commissioned artworks and major loans, works from the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia will be on display in the United States for the first time.

The time institutions have had to research, negotiate loans, and commission artworks has meant that those who propose exhibitions weren’t always on staff when PST: Art began. Mingei’s co-curator Emily Hanna arrived at the museum after her predecessor had already chosen indigo as a theme, leaving her to complete the museum’s largest exhibition since the renovation with co-curator Guusje Sanders and guest co-curator Barbara Hanson Forsyth. Hanna notes that since the proposal, “so many changes have occurred. This was before COVID.” The resulting exhibition, “Blue Gold: The Art and Science of Indigo,” explores how cultures around the world pioneered the complex processes of making indigo dye from varieties of indigo plants, then developed artisanal techniques around the resulting dye. Visitors can delve into the science of indigo or simply explore the global spectrum of indigo crafts. The exhibition also grapples with indigo’s relationship to slavery and colonialism, and its current impact on the environment.

“Through art, we can illuminate some of the nuances of science,” said Megan Dickerson. She left the New Children’s Museum in September 2021 to become director of exhibitions at Birch Aquarium. Already, 30 artists have been selected for Embodied Pacifics, and they’ve partnered with oceanographers to create works that explore the work of these scientists. Their work will be displayed in multiple venues, including UCSD and the aquarium. Like Indigo, Dickerson noted that ocean technology hasn’t always been used to benefit all people or the environment. PST: Art gives the public a way to experience oceanography in new ways. “In this time of climate crisis, we really have to rethink how we talk about this work,” Dickerson said.

One of her favorite things about “Embodied Pacific” is how the artists helped scientists see their work differently. PST: Art in general gives the community a space to have conversations about the intersections of art and science. She said, “PST is a force that creates these spaces of connection wherever we struggle together.”

Another aspect of PST San Diego: Participating in the Arts that brings regional attention to the event is the biographical exhibitions of key artists who have addressed scientific themes in California history.

“There’s a larger group of participants and some pretty significant exhibitions (in San Diego County),” said the Getty’s MacDonald. She said environmental artists Helen and Newton Harrison have been the most frequently mentioned in PST: Art & Science Collide applications, but the only exhibition dedicated to the pair is in San Diego. “Helen and Newton Harrison: California Work” revisits some of the couple’s work from the 1960s to the 2000s at the Central Library Gallery, the Mandeville Art Gallery at UCSD, the California Center for the Arts Escondido and the La Jolla Historical Society. MacDonald said it will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see archives of California’s historic environmental art, such as the 60-panel, 360-degree mural “The Lagoon Cycle,” which hasn’t been exhibited since at least 1997.

Another prominent figure in California is science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler. The American artist recreated and filmed a rocket launch for Butler’s “Parable” series, which will be on display at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Farther south, a more biographical look at Butler’s childhood influences is the subject of a room-sized installation at the New Children’s Museum. The exhibit has been open for several months, but the museum has special events, PST:Art, and upcoming installations by artists Cannupa Hanski Luger and Saya Woolfalk on how science fiction offers ways to imagine a better future.

The five-year PST: Art & Science Collide initiative culminates with six months of exhibitions, installations and events in Southern California, starting this month. “There are a lot of elements that will make San Diego County a really exciting place to experience PST: Art,” MacDonald said. For information on all participating institutions and events, visit pst.art.

Top photo: Still from “Embodied Simulation” by Memo Akten and Katie Peyton Hofstadter (photo courtesy of Birch Aquarium)