Tech companies are investing in artists to improve creativity!

Art and science have been intertwined for centuries, involving the same starting block: the research question. A 2008 study in the Journal of Psychology of Science and Technology showed that compared to other scientists, Nobel Laureates are disproportionately involved in artistic side projects and hobbies. Although this year’s Laureates aren’t exactly disciples of the famous polymath Leonardo da Vinci, creative thinking surely played an important role in their recent achievements.

The tech industry has been sponsoring artist-in-residency programs to tap into artists’ creative thinking skills, in the hopes that their engineering teams will learn something new or, at least, that the public will see their products in a new light. Adobe became the latest tech company—joining Planet Labs, Autodesk, and Facebook—to jump on the artist-in-residence program bandwagon when it launched its creative residency program in May. Read More…