Issue 8 · Spring 2023

Sciences and Arts

Transcending Barriers

A Behind-the-Scenes Conversation on the Making of Rare Earth

Jacqueline Chao  Dennis M. Kratz  Robert J. Stern  Robert Lavinsky 

Rare Earth: The Art and Science of Chinese Stones, recently on view at the Crow Museum of Asian Art of The University of Texas at Dallas, explores the different ways that Chinese and Western cultures have celebrated the beauty found in, and created from, natural stones. Reflecting the educational mission of The University of Texas at Dallas to unite scientific and artistic thinking, the exhibition pairs works of Chinese art from the Crow Museum’s permanent collection with connoisseur-level samples of raw minerals from China. It uniquely displays these natural and reshaped minerals in contexts that invite multiple, interrelated responses: to appreciate their beauty, ponder their cultural significance, and be inspired to understand the natural forces that created them.

[To read the full article, please download the PDF below.]

This article appears in Athenaeum Review Issue 8 (Spring 2023), pp. 120-131. Download a PDF copy.