University of North Texas 
From Ocean Depths to Outer Space: Ruth West, UMD and NASA's Interactive Collaboration
Premieres at the Kennedy Center
Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C. — Ruth West, professor of art and science, recently collaborated to premiere a new immersive artwork that places viewers at the intersection of space, science and creativity.
The collaboration included scientists from NASA’s PACE mission, Sara Blumberg, PACE communications lead, and students from both UNT and the University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland. Together, they created "Wave: From Space to Ocean," an interactive installation powered by data from NASA’s newest Earth-observing satellite, PACE — the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud ocean Ecosystem mission.
The team debuted the work at the prestigious Kennedy Center as part of EARTH to SPACE: Arts Breaking the Sky, a multidisciplinary festival that runs through April 20, 2025. Designed to ignite new ideas between scientists and artists, the event explores the future of space travel and our changing relationship with Earth.
"We're honored to premiere this work at the Kennedy Center alongside such incredible collaborators from NASA and the University of Maryland," West said. "This experience gives audiences a way to connect emotionally and physically with the science behind our oceans and atmosphere."
The Wave installation features five large-scale, interactive projections that respond to movement — a wave of the hand, a step forward — to manipulate real data from NASA's PACE satellite. The purpose of the satellite is to help scientists better understand Earth's oceans and atmosphere by collecting data using powerful hyperspectral imaging tools. The Wave installation transforms that data into something visitors can explore intuitively and playfully, using motion to dive into the complexity and beauty of Earth's systems — from the scale of microorganisms on up to the atmosphere.
By blending gesture-based art with cutting-edge science, West and her collaborators invite audiences to consider the far-reaching insights imaging the Earth from space offers us into our oceans and Earth systems.
The installation is part of a larger conversation at the Kennedy Center about our collective future in space. As NASA prepares to return astronauts to the Moon through its Artemis II program — including astronaut Christina Koch, the first woman scheduled to walk on the Moon, and astronaut Victor J. Glover, the first person of color — EARTH to SPACE encourages us to reflect on the awe of space exploration and the responsibilities it carries.
If you can't make the 238,855-mile journey to the Moon, this might be the next best thing.
View photos of Wave: From Space to Ocean
Watch for an inspiring journey through the extraordinary art featured at the Kennedy
Center’s EARTH to SPACE: Arts Breaking the Sky festival, March 28–April 20, 2025.
Find Dr. Ruth West's comment at the 3-minute mark.
About Ruth West
An interdisciplinary researcher and creative practitioner, Ruth West brings a wide range of expertise to her work. She holds a doctorate in digital media, an M.F.A. in design and media arts, and a bachelor's degree in microbiology.
West holds joint appointments across four colleges at the University of North Texas: the College of Visual Arts and Design in design and studio art: new media art; the College of Information in library and information sciences; the College of Science in biological sciences; and the College of Engineering in computer science.