Frank Pietronigro is using his art to go where no artist has gone before — outer space. The San Francisco artist is a pioneer in space art, a movement dedicated to building bridges between artists and space exploration organizations. Spark takes a look at this futuristic work at the Workshop on Space Artists’ Residencies and Collaborations, which brings together artists and scientists from around the world at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View.

Space art is still a loosely defined field that encompasses a range of interdisciplinary practices, including painting, sculpture and performances that use space flight and/or the technologies of space exploration. Works may be produced within an antigravity environment, use materials specially designed for space travel, or be generated by information collected from celestial bodies and phenomena.

In an effort to bring attention to space art, Pietronigro co-founded the Zero Gravity Arts Consortium, an international organization dedicated to fostering greater access for artists to space technologies through the creation of partnerships between arts organizations, space agencies and research centers. The groundbreaking organization is a small step in a field that is sure to be a giant leap for space artists around the world.

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