Digital DNA by Adriana Varella and Nilton Maltz. The seven-foot egg, which is quilted from circuit boards, was a commission by the Palo Alto Public Art Commission. Photo by Wonderlane via Flickr

A recent National Science Foundation (NSF)-National Endowment for the Arts workshop sought to re-think the ways that the arts and sciences are being linked today and how the agencies might jointly promote new emerging areas of research and cultural development. Participants included artists, scientists, and research engineers, but also university deans and directors of alternative art-science spaces.