“To be creative means to connect” –Nawal El Saadawi
NW Noggin was thrilled and honored to receive an award on behalf of our extraordinary community outreach volunteers at the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) Juice breakfast ceremony at the Portland Art Museum!
LEARN MORE: RACC Announces the 2018 Juice Honorees
Juice is an annual RACC event, where members of the business and arts community celebrate outstanding achievement in expression, support and service in regional arts and culture.
“Principles for the Development of a Complete Mind: Study the science of art. Study the art of science. Develop your senses – especially learn how to see. Realise that everything connects to everything else.”
— Leonardo da Vinci
These are challenging times for many, including teachers and artists, but MOsley WOtta (MOWO), an exceptionally compelling poet, performer, musician, visual artist and educator inspired us with his introduction. His name is a play on “Mostly Water,” which is what we all are – just as we all share remarkable brains…
LEARN MORE: A review of body composition studies with emphasis on total body water and fat
LEARN MORE: The Myth of the Normal Brain: Embracing Neurodiversity
MOWO also emphasized the “Top 10 Ways” each of us can make a difference for regional arts and culture.” *And, we’d add, enthusiastically – for support of science outreach and education.*
Here are two excellent ways to contribute: “Volunteer, volunteer, volunteer…and hire artists!”
LEARN MORE: Nonprofit Noggins!
We were excited to meet fellow Juice award winner Tyler White, the blogger and coordinator for i love this place, a youth-led storytelling project dedicated to telling the stories of all people, and bringing new voices to community issues in Portland. Stories matter, and they are how we remember, communicate and connect…
LEARN MORE: Synapses & Stories: Coyote, Grizzly & their Brains!
Along with innovative developer Kevin Cavanaugh and the creative Carol Triffle and Jerry Mouawad of Portland’s beloved Imago Theatre, Noggin received an “Out of the Ordinary” Juice award for giving “children a unique opportunity to learn about neuroscience and the brain using nontraditional, artistic methods that make the information more accessible and impactful..!”
According to RACC, “think of Juice as RACC’s love letter to the arts by celebrating art’s power through video stories, performance and awards. This is our opportunity to help business and the broader community truly understand the critical need for art and all the ways our community can support the people producing it.”
LEARN MORE: Regional Arts & Culture Council
LEARN MORE: NW Noggin wins RACC grant!
LEARN MORE: WHAT IS JUICE?
Our nomination was submitted by our friends and collaborators at Portland State University and Oregon Health & Science University, both strong supporters of innovative arts-integrated science communication, and neuroscience outreach, education and research…
It’s critical that institutions don’t just talk about communicating science, but also encourage and invest in innovative and creative community activities throughout the Pacific Northwest – and beyond…
“Societies in which we are able to unify ourselves around values and ideals and character and how we treat each other and cooperation and innovation…are gonna be more successful than societies that don’t…”
-Barack Obama
LEARN MORE: Noggin Bloggin
LEARN MORE: Noggin @ (Obama) White House Frontiers
This award belongs to our tireless outreach volunteers, graduates and undergraduates in neuroscience and art who are excited about their own work, and learning how to effectively let others share in their discoveries.
Many thanks to RACC, and to our community collaborators, for recognizing their welcome contributions…
Artwork by Eatcho (Mehran Heard)
Northwest Noggin received federal 501(c)(3) status on November 15, 2016. Contributions – which let us purchase sheep brains, pipe cleaners, electrodes and modeling clay for outreach, plus send our graduate and undergraduate volunteers from Portland State University, Oregon Health & Sciences University and other area institutions to public schools, conferences and community events to effectively and innovatively communicate – are tax-deductible!
