‘Art & Science Collide’ celebrates the yin and yang of stimulating the left and right sides of our brains, fostering a more holistic, creative, and innovative community. City Blog wanted to meet some folks who are part of both worlds – engineers and scientists with the soul of artists, or maybe it’s artists with the brains of engineers.
Name:Caroline Wang
Born in:Taipei, Taiwan
Family:Son Edward Wang, daughter-in-law Shirin Treadwell and grandson Hayden Wang; daughter Emily Wang, son-in-law Andy Loening and grandson Oliver Loening.
Website: Caroline Wang Gallery
Upcoming events: March and April 2018: Church of Nativity Gallery; May and June 2018: Birmingham Botanical Garden; November and December 2018 and January 2019: Arts Huntsville at VBC
Art is a good cross training for scientists and engineers. A good scientist and/or engineer, requires a creative mind in order to be above and beyond.”
Caroline Wang as Artist:Wang is a retired NASA engineer and researcher with a passion for art. She believes any successful design comes from both knowledge and creativity. Art makes a good foundation for engineers, scientist or other professionals.
A diverse artist, Wang incorporates Asian culture into Western art, and paints whatever subject inspires her. She experiments with different types of materials for her artwork. Her original paintings have been on exhibition throughout many of cities within the Southeastern United States.
Since 2004, she has over 50 solo exhibits. The themes of her exhibits throughout the years have included “East meets West”, “A New Look for Asian Art’, “Expressions,” “Tour Around the World”, “Species Around Us”, “Dramatic Gardens”, “My Inspiration”,” The Ocean”, “Wheeler wildlife Refuge and Park”, “Dragon Fly and Garden”, “Inspiration of Wild lives”, “Watercolor with Asian Flair” and “Wildlife in Color.”
Wang’s watercolor painting “Rocks in Mexico” won the top 10 Watercolor Society of Alabama (WSA) online national contest in 2012 ,and her painting “Snow Day” won the top 10 WSA online national contest in 2011 . Her painting “Venice, Louisiana” has received the Best in Show Award at Tennessee Valley Art Association’s 31st national art competition Exhibition South 2005. She has received the Signature Artist award from Watercolor Society of Alabama.
Caroline’s current solo exhibits in 2017 were at Birmingham main Library gallery in Birmingham, and at Carnegie Visual Art Center in Decatur. Her studio is located at Lowe Mill ARTS & Entertainment in studio room 204. She teaches art (How to Apply Chinese Calligraphy brush stroke to watercolor paintings). Caroline is also a designer with VIDA , a new kind of fashion e-commerce company.
The engineering side: Wang worked as a software engineer and as a researcher and software assurance engineer. She joined NASA in 1980 and retired in January 2016.
She was a Software Assurance Lead for NASA’s Space Launch System, a NASA Invention Contribution board member, and center internal lead auditor. Caroline was also a software designer and developer for Space Science Lab and Engineering Lab. She was a researcher for Artificial Intelligence. She also chaired the NASA/Army software Engineering Forum and was a program chair for the NASA/UAH Artificial Intelligence conference.
What fueled Wang’s passion for the art world? “Creation and inspirations. Scientists and artists are creators and inventors. They always have new ideas and create theory, concepts and products that no one has created before.”
How does she see the two worlds – art and science – blending together? “Art is a good cross training for scientists and engineers. A good scientist and/or engineer requires a creative mind in order to be above and beyond. They invent new theory and products and make this world a better place for everyone.”
For more information on how arts and culture affect our community’s pulse and quality of life, connect with Arts Huntsville. The non-profit’s mission is to encourage community creativity and engagement in the arts through community events, public art, arts education initiatives, and member promotion and support.
