xREZ Art + Science Lab integrates a creative studio workspace with a research lab. We forge productive paths that harness the unique creative forces found at the intersection of the arts, sciences and humanities to open new portals of imagination, knowledge and communication. Our visionary team is composed of students, faculty and collaborators working in computer science, new media arts, anthropology, behavioral psychology, photography, music, journalism, art education, information science, hospitality management, urban ecology, geospatial analysis, art education, political science, history, and biomedicine. We see ourselves as envisioning new futures. We create breakthrough solutions to problems that require collaboration across disciplines by developing emerging technologies, new knowledge, public engagement, and cross-sector partnerships.

Leading the avant-garde research lab is Ruth West, Ph.D., director and professor. West's research and creative work has exhibited, presented or featured at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, SIGGRAPH, 9e2 Seattle, the Museum of Old and New Art, WIRED Magazine’s NextFest, UCLA Fowler Museum, CAA, Ingenuity Festival Cleveland, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, FILE 09 Sao Paulo, IEEE VR, Mobisys, SPIE, IEEE ICIP, the American Journal of Human Genetics, Genomics, Leonardo, LEA, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, NPR’s The Connection, NY Times, Genome News Network, AMINIMA and Artweek. She works to help secure funding from various grants and industry and academic sponsors. West also presents the work at xREZ when she is not in the lab and demonstrates the need for art-science labs through frequent invited talks, panels, keynote addresses and presentations.