The Society will give artists a place to share ideas with professionals in science and other artistic disciplines. They will focus on the role of the arts in society and the relationship between science and the arts. The Society is the only platform where individual artists can express their views.
Artists will be selected for membership based on their artistic merits, regardless of their discipline. Artists working in literature, the fine arts, design and architecture, film, music and the performing arts in the broadest sense are eligible for membership.
The Royal Academy has long-standing ties with the arts; for much of the nineteenth century, both artists and scientists were members of the Academy. That is still the case in such countries as Belgium, the United Kingdom, and the United States, where arts academies and societies are clearly valuable to both artists and scientists and contribute to the debate on the value of art and culture for society.
There are many similarities between the work of scientists and the work of artists. Both are driven by passion, with creativity, curiosity and originality playing a crucial role. The Society of Arts will make such similarities more explicit and help restore the relationship between science and art.