For thirty years, the John David Mooney Foundation has operated as a true laboratory- one that crosses boundaries between disciplines, facilitates understanding, and applies discovery.
In the early 1970s, artist John David Mooney called upon an international team of physicists, engineers, and computer scientists to work in conjunction with other artists. The result was the "Visual Systems Research" Group, an innovative team that pushed the boundary between Art and Science, producing what proved to be the inaugural ventures of the John David Mooney Foundation.
Simultaneously, Mr. Mooney was approached by artists, architects, and scientists who had completed their formal training and wished to study with him. The dynamism of their exchanges inspired the cross-disciplinary nature of the international Apprentice and Internship Program. By 1975, this program had developed into a global and trans-disciplinary think-tank dedicated to fulfilling the artist's responsibility to society. Today, the Foundation's Apprentice and Internship Program holds to the same ideals of service and collaborative processes that inspired its inception more than thirty years ago.
In 1981, the Foundation established the International Currents Gallery, an exhibition space created in order to bring the world's most innovative artists to the city of Chicago. These artists continue to offer Chicago extraordinary new glimpses into the creative process. Since its conception, all Foundation programs and exhibitions have been and continue to be free and fully accessible to the public. We accept, invite, and encourage all who wish to participate in our public art projects and to include them as "process artists."
