PARC Artist-in-Residence Program

The PARC Artist-in-Residence Program (PAIR) began at PARC in 1993 and remained active through 1999.

The program was a unique experiment, bringing together artists and scientists for deep, long-term engagements. PAIR is examined in detail in Art and Innovation: The Xerox PARC Artist in Residence Program, edited by Craig Harris and published by MIT Press.

As John Seely Brown, former director of PARC, explains in his introduction:

"The PAIR program invites artists who use new media into PARC and pairs them with researchers who often use the same media, though often in different contexts. The output of these pairings is both interesting art and new scientific innovations. The artists revitalize the atmosphere by bringing in new ideas, new ways of thinking, new modes of seeing and new contexts for doing. This is radically different from most corporate support of the arts, where there is little intersection between the disciplines. It takes a bit of faith on both sides, and a belief that both science and art can use a little shaking up, to engage in such a partnership."