Greetings, all! My name is Mitch Davey, and I am a part of the inaugural Provost Innovation Student Fellowship cohort. I currently working towards an MM in Composition and Graduate Certificates in Arts Management and Nonprofit Management here at the UO. I am composer, conductor, vocalist, and arts entrepreneur, having previously served as founding Artistic Director of the Spectrum Singers, an all-inclusive, multi-generational chorus based in my hometown of Spokane, Washington.
My current project to improve UO’s entrepreneurial ecosystem centers around connecting my community of incredibly talented artists and creators from the School of Music and Dance and College of Design with the amazing community of scientists and entrepreneurs on the new Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact and beyond. This project, entitled the Science Advancing Society Immersive Experience (or SASIE, for short), is a UO artist-led and operated initiative which seeks to promote the innovative scientific advancements ongoing in the Knight Campus through the creation of publicly accessible, immersive, interdisciplinary visual and performing art installations and events. SASIE’s innovative approach will engage Oregon community members of all ages by transforming non-traditional spaces into interactive realms of story and exploration, assisting the public in engaging with important scientific discovery. SASIE will stimulate the UO entrepreneurial ecosystem by connecting resident UO student and faculty artists with Knight Campus scholars to produce meaningful, engaging artistic works that will assist in conveying Knight Campus innovations to the greater community.
In order to create a sustainable program, I am seeking to foster collaborative partnerships with organizations on the UO campus and around Oregon, including existing visual and performing arts organizations in the Eugene and Portland communities. My business partner, Kelly Sweeney, and I are currently developing an arts marketing and public relations startup agency called the Cascade Interdisciplinary Arts Collaborative (CIAC), which utilizes interactive visual and performance art installations to engage consumers similar to SASIE. We will be launching our business to market in the coming months with the goal of unveiling our first collaborative project on campus by this coming Fall 2021 so that the public can begin to engage with our work in person as campus slowly begins to refill. We are also currently exploring some exciting partnership opportunities around campus as well as with businesses and organizations throughout the City of Eugene and the Pacific Northwest.
If you are an artist or entrepreneur and are interested in connecting with us, please do not hesitate to reach out at mdavey@uoregon.edu. A big part of SASIE and CIAC’s mission revolves around fostering inclusivity and positive social change. We are always looking for potential partners to collaborate with on future projects. I look forward to sharing progress on SASIE in the coming months!