Joshua Sariñana served as a guest panelist for the 2025 Local Cultural Council (LCC) grant for the Somerville Arts Council, contributing to the Film and Interrelated Media panel. The panel aimed to evaluate and allocate funding to creative projects that enrich the cultural landscape of Somerville. As part of his role, Sariñana reviewed grant applications and engaged in discussions to assess the artistic quality, community impact, and feasibility of proposed projects.

This Roundtable discussion explores the intersections of neuroscience, art, artificial intelligence, and memory through a collaborative discussion featuring a choreographer, designer/artist, an environment and community organizer, and neuroscientists. The conversation highlights Joshua Sariñana's Mental Mapping project, which visualizes the connections between our internal cognitive networks and external environments by using photography, storytelling, and AI tools.

From December 6, 2021, to February 28, 2022, The Poetry of Science was exhibited at MIT’s Rotch Gallery, presenting a dynamic blend of poetry and photography that highlights the experiences and contributions of scientists of color. Directed by Joshua Sariñana, PhD, this multimedia project merges art and science to challenge traditional narratives and foster positive associations between communities of color and the sciences. Each work pairs portraits of scientists, visually embedded into natural landscapes, with poetry that explores their research, motivations, and lives.

Joshua Sariñana, PhD ’11, merges his expertise in neuroscience, photography, and storytelling in The Poetry of Science, a public art installation advocating for racial and social justice. Supported by a Cambridge Arts Council Art for Racial Justice Grant, this multimedia project pairs scientists of color with poets of color to create collaborative works that celebrate their contributions and amplify their voices. Through portraits by Vanessa Leroy and poetry inspired by the scientists’ work, the project fosters a deeper understanding of science and promotes positive associations with communities of color.

Joshua Sariñana, PhD, and Linsey Jayne, debuted their project, The Poetry of Science, at Lit Crawl Boston 2021. This initiative pairs local poets of color with scientists of color to address racial disparities in both fields while showcasing the profound connections between the sciences and the humanities. Poets collaborated with scientists in fields like quantum mechanics, radiology, and social robotics to craft original poetry inspired by their research, motivations, and personal stories. At the event, each poet presented one poem as a demonstration of their partnership and the creative synergies between poetry and science. Read the Interview >