Getty’s PST ART: Art & Science Collide Groundbreaking Event in Southern California To Become a New PBS Documentary, Now in Production
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Select programming will also be available to stream on PBS.org and the free PBS App. Members of PBS SoCal get extended access with PBS Passport.
Los Angeles, Calif. – Feb. 12, 2025 – PBS SoCal, Southern California’s flagship PBS station, announced today several initiatives allowing audiences to go behind the scenes of the Getty’s milestone art event PST ART: Art & Science Collide exploring the intersections of art and science, both past and present. A series of 11 video shorts, high school student-produced journalism pieces and a new 60-minute program is currently in production based on the event. The new documentary for PBS produced by PBS SoCal in association with Actual Films (Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore, The White House Effect, Athlete A, An Inconvenient Sequel, The Island President and The Lost Boys of Sudan) weaves together compelling stories of artists participating in the Getty’s event and explores how they collaborate with science and technology in unexpected ways. The yet-to-be titled documentary will premiere later this fall on PBS stations across the country, PBS.org and the PBS app in fall 2025.
Viewers can get a sneak peek of some of the content from the upcoming documentary through a series of weekly digital shorts under the title FUSING ART & SCIENCE that launches today with three short docs providing an exploration into the intertwined realms of art and science. 11 locally-produced episodes rolling out over the next few months will feature some of Southern California’s top arts and culture destinations that include the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, California African American Museum, The Autry Museum of the American West and many more. New episodes of the shorts will drop weekly to stream on the free PBS app, PBS SoCal’s YouTube Channel and pbssocal.org starting Weds., Feb. 12.
Though several exhibits have now closed to the public, this initiative allows audiences the opportunity to experience them firsthand.
“With Los Angeles forever transformed due to the recent Southern California wildfires, this new multi-platform program celebrates the resiliency of our creative community and features a diverse array of some of our region’s most prolific Arts institutions who have come together to put the spotlight on Artists and their dynamic creative work and its relationship to science and technology,” commented PBS SoCal Chief Content Officer Tamara Gould. “This initiative is a testament to the incredible creative collaboration that has taken place here in our city featuring exhibitions that took on timely topics, such as climate change, and the lasting impact of these artistic works that could become part of the solution to unforeseen challenges ahead.”
Starting in September 2024 and continuing for five months, PST ART: Art & Science Collide comprised more than 60 deeply researched exhibitions developed by arts organizations and scientific institutions throughout Southern California, featuring over 800 artists in mind-expanding explorations of topics ranging from ancient cosmology to Indigenous sci-fi, and from artificial intelligence to environmental justice. The programs ranged from cutting-edge performing arts commissions to rocket launches, and from participatory art projects and action-centered discussions to a free outdoor art and science family festival—all on the theme of Art & Science Collide. The effort is not only the largest art project in the United States but also serves as a revolutionary model for public programming at an unprecedented scale.
As part of PBS SoCal’s efforts around PST ART: Art & Science Collide, the organization hosted 12 high school student fellows earlier this month as part of PBS News Student Reporting Labs (SRL)’s Winter Academy. Over the course of five days, students produced original video news reports and gained experience scripting, filming, and editing. Their reported stories focused on PST, and featured museums, artists and works at the intersection of art and science. The fellows worked in teams to develop their reported stories and collaborated with local mentors from the California State University, Northridge Journalism Department’s Daily Sundial and Broadcast News programs and SRL staff through every stage of the production process. Meet the 2025 Winter Academy Fellows here. Watch the student’s stories and see a behind-the-scenes of the Academy on SRL's YouTube channel. Learn more about PBS SoCal’s work with Student Reporting Labs at https://www.pbssocal.org/student-reporting-labs.
Episodes of the FUSING ART & SCIENCE digital series are described below and will stream as follows (subject to change):
“Views of Planet City” Streams on Weds., Feb. 12
Location: SCI-Arc (Downtown LA) + Pacific Design Center Gallery
Hyperdense megalopolises are often the cities of dystopian worlds. But a city built for 10-billion people could thrive and let the rest of the earth rewild. Planet City is the conceptual world Liam Young has built with numerous scientists, theorists, architects, writers and more. Views of this possible city are presented in an expansive transmedia project. https://pst.art/en/exhibitions/views-of-planet-city
“Energy Fields: Vibrations of the Pacific” Streams on Weds., Feb. 12
Location: Chapman University (Orange)
Long: Energy Fields examines approaches to vibration, sound and kinetic energy shared by artists and scientists working in the Pacific region across the 20th century to the present day. From sound sculptures to works of art that detect tectonic vibrations of the earth, this exhibit listens in to the electromagnetic and seismic activity of the Pacific. https://pst.art/en/exhibitions/energy-fields-vibrations-of-the-pacific
“Open Sky” Streams on Weds., Feb. 12
Location: Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College (Pomona)
Open Sky explores the potential of somatically affective work to investigate our embodied relationship to the universe. The artists in this exhibition—Xin Liu, Agnieszka Polska and Marcus Zúñiga—fluidly engage scientific and artistic languages to stage experiential explorations of what it means to be human at this precarious moment. https://pst.art/en/exhibitions/open-sky
“World Without End” Streams on Weds., Feb. 19
Location: California African American Museum (Exposition Park)
George Washington Carver was a pioneer of plant-based engineering and one of the nation’s earliest proponents of sustainable agriculture. This short film showcases Carver’s rarely seen artworks alongside his laboratory equipment, paint samples and formulas. The exhibition also features contemporary artists, scientists and engineers working in dialogue with Carver, among them Los Angeles-based assemblage artist Judson Powell. https://caamuseum.org/exhibitions/2024/world-without-end-the-george-washington-carver-project
“For Dear Life: Art, Medicine, and Disability” Streams on Weds., Feb. 26
Location: Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (San Diego)
The first exhibition to survey themes of illness and impairment in American art from the 1960s up to the COVID-19 era. In recent years, the art world has seen an explosion of activity confronting issues of illness and disability. https://mcasd.org/exhibitions/for-dear-life-art-medicine-and-disability
“Surveillance and Countersurveillance: Control, Privacy, Agency” Streams on Weds., Mar. 5
Location: Wende Museum (Culver City)
The exhibition Counter/Surveillance traces the historical roots of Cold War and modern surveillance devices and methods. These technologies of detection, spying and countermeasures influenced divisions among nations, classes and races. Artist Ken Gonzales-Day examines the racial biases of facial recognition technologies through his work. https://wendemuseum.org/exhibition/countersurveillance/
“Seeing the Unseeable” Streams on Weds., Mar. 12
Location: Art Center College of Design (Pasadena)
Climate change is immediately impacting coral reefs and the diverse ecosystems they support. Few people get to see their beauty or their struggle up close under the ocean. A world-wide art project by Christine Wertheim and Margaret Wertheim makes the unseeable seeable through intricate crochet work that combines mathematics, science, art and feminist community practice. https://pst.art/en/exhibitions/seeing-the-unseeable-data-design-art
“Remote Sensing: Explorations Into the Art of Detection” Streams on Weds., Mar. 19
Location: CLUI - Center Land Use Interpretation, (Culver City & Mojave Desert)
Throughout the last century, Los Angeles has been the driver of technologies developed to detect the undetectable from afar, from radar systems that can predict incoming enemies to lasers that can capture the invisible building blocks of our galaxy. In this exhibit, artists explore what it means to be able to "detect" from afar and what is "unseen" across the electromagnetic spectrum. https://pst.art/en/exhibitions/remote-sensing-explorations-into-the-art-of-detection
“Reframing Dioramas: The Art of Preserving Wilderness” Streams on Weds., Mar. 26
Location: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (Exposition Park)
The Natural History Museum’s (NHM) historic diorama halls are the largest exhibitions at the museum, showcasing over 75 incredibly detailed habitats ranging from arctic tundra to tropical rainforest. NHM is restoring and reopening a diorama hall that has been closed for decades where visitors can experience immersive new installations that explore biodiversity, ecology, conservation, colonialism and changing museum display techniques. https://pst.art/en/exhibitions/reframing-dioramas
“Future Imaginaries: Indigenous Art, Fashion, Technology” Streams on Weds., Apr. 2
Location: The Autry Museum of the American West (Griffith Park)
The rising use of Futurism in contemporary Indigenous art is explored as a means of enduring colonial trauma, creating alternative futures and advocating for Indigenous technologies in a more inclusive present and sustainable future. The film envisions sovereign futures while countering historical myths and the ongoing impact of colonization, including environmental degradation and toxic stereotypes. https://pst.art/en/exhibitions/future-imaginaries
“Color in Motion: Chromatic Explorations of Cinema” Streams on Weds., Apr. 9
Location: Academy Museum of Motion Pictures (Los Angeles)
Exploring the power of color as a filmmaking tool, the science and technologies behind it and its physical and psychological impact on audiences, film preservationist and expert Barbara Flückinger reviews her preservation process and the complicated history behind color in celluloid. https://pst.art/en/exhibitions/color-in-motion-chromatic-explorations-of-cinema
The PST Digital Shorts are part of PBS SoCal’s PST initiative and is supported in part by John and Louise Bryson, the California Community Foundation, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Department of Arts and Culture, the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, the Frieda Berlinski Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, Gregory Annenberg Weingarten, GRoW@Annenberg and other generous institutional funders.
The series is produced for PBS by PBS SoCal in association with Actual Films, Inc. Actual Films’ Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk and Justine Nagan will executive produce along with along with PBS SoCal’s Tamara Gould and Angela Boisvert. Actual Films is working with Oscar® nominated director Jessica Kingdon and producer Serin Marshall to helm the film. Wendy Llinas is the executive in charge for PBS.
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About PST ART: Art & Science Collide
Southern California’s landmark arts event Pacific Standard Time—now PST ART—returns with more than 70 exhibitions from museums and other institutions across the region, all exploring the intersections of art and science—past, present, and in the imaginable future. Dozens of cultural, scientific, and community organizations have joined the latest edition, PST ART: Art & Science Collide, to share groundbreaking research, create indelible experiences for the public, and generate new ways of understanding our complex world.
PST ART: Art & Science Collide follows Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA (September 2017–January 2018) and Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945–1980 (October 2011– March 2012). PST ART is presented by Getty. Lead partners are Bank of America, Alicia Miñana & Rob Lovelace, and the Getty Patron Program. Principal partners are Simons Foundation; Eva and Ming Hsieh, Co-Founders of Fulgent Genetics; and Peggy and Andrew Cherng, Co-Chairs and Co-CEOs of Panda Express. For more information about PST ART: Art & Science Collide, please visit: pst.art.
Press materials about PST ART in English and Spanish are available here.
About Actual Films
Actual Films creates powerful works of documentary cinema to have a positive impact for change in the world. Over the past 20+ years, the company has created critically acclaimed, award-winning films such as Athlete A, Audrie & Daisy, An Inconvenient Sequel, The Island President and The Lost Boys of Sudan. Recent work includes the Academy-Award nominated short Lead Me Home and Make A Splash, which premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival. Distribution partners include Netflix, HBO, Paramount, ESPN, Disney+, PBS and Samuel Goldwyn. Founded by filmmakers Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk, Actual Films’ documentaries have won Emmys and Peabodys, and been nominated for an Academy Award. Together with Head of Production Justine Nagan, Actual Films frequently collaborates with passionate filmmakers across the country and from around the San Francisco Bay.
About PBS SoCal
PBS SoCal uses the power of public media for good, strengthening the civic fabric of Southern California and providing our community with an essential connection to a wider world. As a local, donor/member-supported non-profit organization, PBS SoCal is available to stream on the PBS app and the PBS Kids App and reaches nearly 19M viewers across 7 Broadcast channels — including 2 primary channels, PBS SoCal and PBS SoCal Plus and 5 digital subchannels. With a commitment to make content available anytime and anywhere for free, PBS SoCal offers programming that reflects the diversity of Southern California and showcases the full schedule of beloved and trusted PBS content spanning Education, News, Environment and Arts & Culture. PBS SoCal also sparks the sharing of ideas at in-person cultural events and community conversations as well as prepares children for kindergarten and beyond by bringing bilingual, hands-on learning experiences to the community for free.