STEAM is an acronym that stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics. You may have heard of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) — STEAM takes the same approach while also applying artistic skills such as creative thinking and design.
However, STEAM shouldn’t be simply viewed as STEM with the arts shoehorned in, as if someone might undertake a sciences-centered education with a painting class tossed in. It’s actually a holistic, interdisciplinary approach that exemplifies what the famous artist Leonardo da Vinci once said: “To develop a complete mind: Study the science of art; study the art of science. Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else.”
As a result, STEAM-based education has become popular in elementary, middle, and high schools across the United States. It’s a great way to teach kids critical and creative thinking, collaboration and socialization skills, and a way to connect what they learn to the world around them.
Because we believe that STEAM education is so important, we’re donating a percentage of the sales of Colin’s prints to TSJ Foundation, a non-profit that uses Star Wars as part of its STEAM-focused approach to education. Read on to learn more about how Colin and TSJ intersect with STEAM, or head over to the shop now to help preserve Colin’s legacy and support a great cause too. (Use the code PRINT15 to get 15% off your order!)
Colin Cantwell and STEAM
If you’ve learned a bit about Colin Cantwell, you know that STEAM was a major part of his life from a very young age, even though the
acronym didn’t exist then. He became interested in space while devouring all the books in his elementary school’s library, and he even created a makeshift gravity well while working for furniture designer Charles Eames in the 1950s.
Colin took art and engineering classes while attending the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and became the school’s first animation graduate after lobbying the administration to make it a major. He was going to become an architect, but his plan to study under Frank Lloyd Wright ended when the famous architect died.
During the 1960s, Colin worked for NASA, helping inform the public about the first unmanned space flights, and even sat near Walter Cronkite during the moon landing on July 20, 1969, feeding information fro the lunar lander to the news anchor. In the early 1970s, he built an eight-foot-by-four-foot three-dimensional model of the Copreties canyon on Mars and photographed it for a museum in San Diego.
The intersection of art and engineering continued for Cantwell when he created concept paintings and models for many Star Wars spaceships, including the X-Wing Fighter, TIE Fighter, Star Destroyer, Death Star, and more; created an unused computer-generated graphics test for Steven Spielberg’s 1977 movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind; and helped Hewlett-Packard take its computer software from 8 colors to 5,000.
Colin, STEAM, and TSJ Foundation
Colin’s work on Star Wars has inspired generations of fans since the first movie became a worldwide phenomenon in 1977, and TSJ Foundation founder and CEO Eric Jacobs is among them. TSJ’s mission involves using droids, characters, spaceships, and settings from the Star Wars movies to foster deeper engagement in the educational learning process, regardless of age. That goal is exemplified by TSJ’s STEAM i-ARTS program, which uses robotics to teach coding, history, technology, art, and other subjects.
“The inspiration for the TSJ Foundation came from my mother, Theresa Sondra Jacobs, who dedicated over 30 years of her life to education,” Jacobs told us when we talked to him about the non-profit’s mission. “She was more than a teacher: she was a guiding light who believed in the power of learning to transform lives. After her passing, I wanted to honor her legacy by creating an organization that would make learning exciting, accessible, and unforgettable — using creativity and immersive experiences to inspire the next generation. TSJ is not just about education: it’s about sparking curiosity and making a lasting impact, much like she did.”
Colin’s work on Star Wars is a natural complement to TSJ’s mission, and when they created an installation for the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) Museum in Ohio in May 2024, they made sure he was represented in an exhibit called Galactic Visions. People of all ages were introduced to STEAM-based education featuring all kinds of Star Wars characters, and Colin’s rich, varied career was on display too.
Remember: every purchase from Colin’s shop helps benefit STEAM-based education for kids, and the code PRINT15 will get you 15% off for the holidays!
* Vitruvian Man image used under a Wikimedia Commons license. Credit for the image goes to Luc Viatour.
