The Nobel Conference, held annually at Gustavus Adolphus College, combines the efforts of current, past, and future students of the school, along with the general public, to create a collaborative learning experience. This year’s subject “Insects: Little Body Big Impacts” focused on bugs and the influence that they have on the world, whether it be on an individual level or the greater surroundings.
Eric Lennartson ‘92 worked with Gustavus Adolphus College to bring in the skills he learned while getting his degree in studio arts. He displayed projections of insects to show them on a much larger scale and gave students a glimpse into the subject, along with the importance of combining arts and sciences.
“It was fun to have a project back on campus” says Lennartson about coming back to his alma mater. “ I’m involved in so many communities for my projects around the world, but it’s great to return to a place that I have so many memories and such a long family history. It was great to see so many familiar places along with the new buildings and landscaping completed around campus over the past decade. “
Lennartson managed to reach out to the school and get in touch with faculty to make these projections a reality. He notes “when I learned more about the theme for the 2023 Nobel Conference, I was intrigued on how some of my latest artistic experiments in projection could be used to build on the conference theme of ‘Insects: Little Body, Large Impact.’ I pitched the idea to the art department to see if there was an opportunity to collaborate for a pop-up art installation for the Nobel Conference. “
“Combining [arts and sciences] leads to a better understanding of our world and greater future development for both the arts and sciences” says Lennartson. The Nobel Conference is just one instance in which the skills instilled by Gustavus Adolphus College are put on display.
This collaboration goes to show just how tightly knit the Gustavus community is, along with how it sets up its students for success. After all, as Lennartson so eloquently puts it, “that is the beauty of the liberal arts education, you can find ways to integrate a variety of subjects in your education to create or design your own future.”