Call for Participation
Nature in the Mix
An Interdisciplinary, Collaborative, and Creative Exploration
Providence College and Rhode Island School of Design are pleased to announce an open call for work that showcases and fosters interdisciplinary collaboration, including research products, artworks, visualizations, creative/scientific practices, and other collaborative activity addressing nature in all its dimensions.
Sponsored by the Rhode Island Research Administration Collaborative (RIRAC) and in partnership with the Center for Innovation and Interdisciplinary Studies (CIIS) and Providence College Galleries, Nature in the Mix invites contributions from a variety of fields to build interdisciplinary connections and infrastructure among scholars, artists, designers, and scientists.
Theme
Nature in the Mix solicits collaborations across the arts, sciences, humanities, public health, social sciences, and other areas of scholarship that explore natural systems, art inspired by nature, the role humans play within the broader ecosystem, environmental observation and design, biodiversity and ecological interconnectedness, botanical beauty and symbolism found within the natural world.
Nature in the Mix foregrounds the processes and impact of research and discovery and creative practice across our two institutions. The exhibition and related programming will consider what cross-disciplinary intersections help us to see and think differently about natural phenomena, the world around us, and our role in relation to it.
Potential Activities and Outcomes:
While anchored by an exhibition in the Hunt-Cavanagh Gallery at Providence College, we welcome proposals for concurrent related activities, including, but not limited to, public-facing symposia and panels, round-table conversations, workshops, and discussions of future research collaborations.
- Proposal Deadline: November 9, 2026 – Submit Here
- Exhibition, presentations, related programs will take place Aug. 2027 – Feb. 2028
- Location: Providence College, Providence College Galleries – Hunt-Cavanagh Gallery
- Contacts for more information:
- Irene Inouye, Project Coordinator, Center for Innovation and Interdisciplinary Studies (CIIS), Office of Academic Affairs, Providence College, iinouye@providence.edu
- Samantha Troll, Operations Coordinator, Office of Academic Engagement, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), stroll@risd.edu
Goals for Nature in the Mix include:
- Fostering new and existing interdisciplinary and inter-institutional connections among Providence College and RISD faculty, staff, and graduate students.
- Exploring nature, natural history, ecology and environmental sustainability as shared points of inquiry across science, humanities, art and design disciplines
- Showcasing existing interdisciplinary work, while creating space for genuinely new relationships and building a research network among artists, designers, scholars, and scientists in Rhode Island
- Seeding more collaborative activity between disciplines and an infrastructure for research-based creative practice across RIRAC institutions
Call for Participation
Nature in the Mix invites contributions from faculty, staff, graduate students, researchers, and collaborators at Providence College and RISD. Applicants may submit work at any stage of development, through two tracks:
Track A – Existing Work: completed or substantially developed projects (installations, prototypes, publications, performances, research outputs) ready to exhibit. These works will act as catalysts and contexts for other concurrent programming and for building future interdisciplinary research and collaborations.
Track B – Collaboration-Generating: proposals for activities, events, public programs, concept notes, early experiments or initiatives designed to foster new Providence College – RISD partnerships, collaborations, and experiences among researchers to build a learning community.
Eligibility
Open to faculty, staff, researchers, and graduate students at Providence College and RISD. Individuals or teams may apply. Applicants may indicate whether they are already collaborating with a colleague at their or another institution (Track A or B), open to collaboration, or seeking a collaborator (Track B).
What to Submit
The following are possible proposals that could be submitted for Track A or Track B
- Artwork and Installations
- Performance, Screening
- Workshop/Participatory Activity
- Presentation/Panel/Roundtable
- Other
For Track A (Existing Work for the Exhibition):
- A 250–400 word project abstract
- A brief description (up to 250 words) explaining the project’s interdisciplinary and collaborative connections
- 3–5 images, media, or work samples that are closely related to your proposal. Documentation of the proposed existing work is required.*
- Work sample list
For Track B (Collaboration-Generating Ideas):
- A 250–400 word concept statement
- A brief description (up to 250 words) of the project’s current or desired interdisciplinary and collaborative connections
- 3–5 images, media, or work samples of recent or current work, that are closely related to your proposal.*
- Work sample list
*Work Sample Information and Requirements
Please provide 3 – 5 samples of recent or current work, that are closely related to your proposal. For Track A: Documentation of the proposed existing work is required. Sketches, outlines, diagrams and works in progress are welcomed. It will help reviewers understand and imagine your proposed project.
Formats and Limits: Files can be PDF, JPEG, JPG, GIF, PNG, WAV, QuickTime, Docx, or Txt. For images: Up to 5MB. For video or sound files: Please keep each sample limited to three minutes. If the original work is longer, please identify the three-minute segment to be reviewed; otherwise reviewers are directed to the first three minutes. For writing: Up to 5 pages per sample, for a total of 15 pages of writing.
Work Samples List: Create a separate document and include it in your work samples folder. For each sample, the list should include: File Name; Title, Year; Medium/Dimensions; and a 50-word contextual note to provide technical details and/or how the work is meant to be experienced.
To share your work samples: Prepare a single online folder (such as Google Drive, OneDrive, or Teams). Provide the Work Samples Folder URL in the application. Please set access to “Anyone with the link.” If you prefer to have your materials are password protected, include the password with your work sample link. Please ensure your URL starts with http:// or https:// and ends in a valid domain.
Click here to Submit by Deadline – November 9, 2026, 11:59pm EST
Evaluation Criteria
Submissions will be considered on:
- Thematic relevance to Nature in the Mix
- Quality and originality of the work
- Strength of interdisciplinary exchange or collaboration
- Potential for dialogue or future collaboration
- Public, educational, or community value
- Potential to advance the work of the collaborators/contributors
Key Dates
- October 9, 2026: Call for Participation distributed
- November 9, 2026, 11:59pm EST: Submission deadline
- December 7, 2026: Notification to applicants
- December 2026–June 2027: Selected participants prepare work, with opportunities for networking and a possible meet-and-greet
- August 2027–June 2028: Exhibition (Aug. – Feb.), symposia, and panel programming at the Hunt-Cavanagh Gallery at Providence College will take place throughout the Fall 2027 and Spring 2028 semesters
Selection Process
Submissions will be reviewed collaboratively by the Providence College/Providence College Galleries and RISD planning team.
A Resource for Finding Collaborators
RIRAC’s website, RIRAC.org, houses the RIRAC Faculty and Collaborator Research Database, letting faculty and collaborators across all five RIRAC institutions, including Providence College and RISD, share their research interests and find potential collaborators. Applicants interested in Track B, especially those seeking a collaborator, are encouraged to look into this resource.
About RIRAC
The Rhode Island Research Administration Collaborative (RIRAC) is a $3 million initiative funded by the National Science Foundation to build the research capacity of Rhode Island’s smaller and emerging higher education institutions. Five Rhode Island colleges and universities, Providence College, Rhode Island College, Roger Williams University, Salve Regina University, and Rhode Island School of Design are working together as RIRAC to strengthen research infrastructure, train the next generation of research professionals, and support new interdisciplinary and cross-institutional research. Nature in the Mix is one expression of that larger effort: an opportunity for faculty across two RIRAC partner institutions to meet and develop potential new directions for cross-institutional collaborative research.
About Providence College and the Center for Innovation and Interdisciplinary Studies (CIIS)
Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Friars, Providence College is a Catholic, Dominican, liberal arts institution located in Providence, Rhode Island. Providence College is committed to academic excellence and transformative learning, encouraging students and faculty to pursue truth through rigorous inquiry, moral and ethical reasoning, and engagement with the wider world. Within RIRAC, Providence College leads the creation and maintenance of RIRAC’s website, which will house the RIRAC Faculty and Collaborator Research Database launching in Fall 2026, and partners with Salve Regina University on the consortium’s Research Administration Learning Community.
Nature in the Mix is hosted by Providence College’s Center for Innovation and Interdisciplinary Studies (CIIS), supported through the NSF GRANTED award to RIRAC, and the Providence College Galleries (PCG). Click here to learn more about CIIS and PCG.
About Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) is a nonprofit college and museum founded in 1877 in the city of Providence, RI. One of the world’s leading colleges of art and design, RISD is distinguished by its emphasis on fine art, design, and critical and creative inquiry in teaching, learning, and research. RISD brings to RIRAC deep experience in cross-disciplinary collaboration and in bridging STEM and the arts. Throughout the RIRAC grant period, RISD is working with its partner institutions to promote arts integration, build faculty expertise in research, grow Rhode Island’s research administration community, and advance interdisciplinary work as will be featured in Nature in the Mix.
This exhibition is supported by RIRAC (the Rhode Island Research Administration Collaborative), a National Science Foundation GRANTED initiative, under Award Nos. OIA-2420137 and OIA-2420138, and is a collaborative project between Providence College and Rhode Island School of Design.
