Artist Corrie Baldauf, with a pair of her signature signs.

There was a large crowd on hand for the one-night-only event.

On Thursday, May 22, the MOCAD (a Knight Arts grantee) played host to “An Evening of Art + Science,” a unique fundraising event that acted as a benefit for the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute.

Curator Lynn Crawford, who was responsible for pairing artists and scientists.

In her role as curator, novelist and art critic Lynn Crawford paired 11 artists with 11 physician-researchers from the Taubman Institute, to provide inspiration and collaborative energy for the pieces, which were then silent-auctioned over the course of the evening. The bidding was hot and heavy for works by Metro Detroit notables, including Ann Arbor-based interactive artist Osman Khan, letterpress powerhouse Lynne Avadenka, and Kresge Grant recipient Corrie Baldauf.

Detail from a work by Osman Khan.

Khan (right), with artist Megan Heeres on the left.

Artist Lynne Avadenka and her work.

Detail of Avadenka’s lightbox piece.

While art and medical science might be considered radically different disciplines, the show’s participants and attendees—which included a wide range of physicians and artists—were quick to find common ground. Indeed, both fields require sensitivity of perception, intuition and the ability to take unexpected and creative approaches to challenging questions. Of the scientists featured in the project–which include Dr. Valerie Castle, a cancer researcher and chair of the U-M Health System’s department of pediatrics and communicable diseases; Dr. Parag Patil, a U-M neurosurgeon who is conducting the first intraspinal injections of stem cells into patients with ALS; Dr. Ronald Buckanovich, an associate professor of gynecology who is testing a new drug for ovarian cancer patients; and Dr. Eva Feldman, the Russell N. DeJong Professor of Neurology at U-M and the director of the Taubman Institute—a number of them were revealed to have artistic pursuits, such as landscape photography or painting as a hobby.

Visitors were treated to an exciting night of art, philanthropy and entertainment.

The evening included music, dancing, a sit-down dinner and VIP cocktail party, with all proceeds benefiting the Taubman Institutes Emerging Scholars Program for early career physician-scientists at the University of Michigan Health System. Much regard is due to all participants, organizers, physicians and artists for their efforts to leverage artistic breakthroughs into medical breakthroughs!

MOCAD: 4454 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-832-6622; www.mocadetroit.org A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute: 1500 E. Medical Center Dr., Ann Arbor; 734-936-4000; www.taubmaninstitute.org