The BRAIN Initiative is a US program providing an additional $100 million for basic brain research. BRAIN stands for Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies. It was announced by President Obama a year ago, and funding to research laboratories across this country starts in 2014.

I organized a nation-wide art exhibit to support this effort, called the BRAIN-ART Initiative. Artists submitted works that investigate how our minds work, where thinking comes from, what is the source of consciousness. 2-D and 3-D works were accepted. Located on the South side of Chicago, not far from the President’s residence, made this a fitting location for the BRAIN-ART Initiative.

From a very large number of entries from all over the country, juror Aron Packer, of the Packer Schopf Gallery, culled the exhibit down to just 39 pieces by 33 artists in a range of media and sizes that illustrate just how deeply these ideas were pondered, and how they informed the creative process.

The exhibit took place at the Beverly Arts Center, 2407 W. 111 Str., Chicago, from September 12 through October 26, 2014.

It was the “Pick of the Week” by the Chicago Tribune, was reviewed in the Beverly Review, and an extensive write-up appeared in the on-line publication DNAinfo