The L&J Ranch is an art + research venture that explores the relationship between ‘place’ and the life it enables. Supporting a wide range of diverse initiatives, projects, and philanthropy, The L&J Ranch is envisioned as a unique collaborative platform for investigation and artistic production. The Airstream Mobile Lab serves as a base for exploration and discovery.
4>Joel Slayton is a pioneering artist, educator, and curator. His professional activities explore contemporary culture as informed by emerging technologies. He is Professor Emeritus at San Jose State where he founded the CADRE Laboratory for New Media in 1984. Joel Slayton is on the Board of Directors of LEONARDO/International Society for Art, Science and Technology. He was the 2019 Sterling Visiting Scholar in the Department of Chemical and Systems Biology at Stanford University School of Medicine. Joel recently curated the LAST Festival (Life, Art, Science, and Technology) hosted at SLAC National Accelerator. Joel Slayton recently received the Silicon Valley Nexus Award for Art and Technology sponsored by Adobe and awarded by SVCreates. He is a Senior Fellow of the Silicon Valley American Leadership Forum. Slayton’s artwork has been featured in more than 100 exhibitions around the world including Berlin, Linz, Buenos Aires, Auckland, and New York. For eight years he served as Executive Director of ZERO1, Silicon Valley-based arts organization and agency for four international art biennials that featured more than 600 artists from 45 countries. Slayton is recipient of numerous awards including the National Endowment for the Arts.
Lisa Johanson has 30 years experience in conducting clinical research for patients with neurological disorders. She has been a principal investigator and the liaison to Spinal Cord Injury/Disability Service at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System working to improve quality of life for veteran patients. Her research focus is restoring neuromuscular control and upper limb function after spinal cord injury by using brain imaging and measures of muscle activation to guide treatment approaches. In collaboration with therapists and engineering staff Lisa has trained paralyzed individuals to use exoskeletal robotic devices to stand and walk independently. She works collaboratively with core groups of scientists and clinicians to understand the complex relationships between biomechanical, surgical, neural, and functional variables related to neuromuscular coordination of the upper and lower limbs. As a clinical assistant professor at UCSF she provides mentorship and course instruction to physical therapy students. Her strong history of working as a member of interdisciplinary research groups will strengthen the opportunity for the success of this pilot project.