STEM has been a huge acronym buzz word in education in recent years, standing for the “hard science” pillars of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, but an initiative led by the Rhode Island School of Design is hoping to turn that into STEAM. Aimed at promoting the national movement of putting arts and design in the STEM education program, STEM to STEAM seems to be picking up momentum with its argument that creativity and flexible thinking are just as important to innovation as science.

The work discussed in this story is on view in the exhibition By-Product Becomes Product at Intersection for the Arts (925 Mission Street, San Francisco) through March 30, 2013. There is an artists' talk on Saturday, March 23, at 1 p.m. (free and open to the public).

We all know that formaldehyde is toxic, but you may not know that it's an essential component of the glues that bind together such commonly used construction materials as plywood and particle board. And unlike asbestos, which becomes inhalable and therefore harmful only when disturbed, these composite wood panels actually off-gas formaldehyde all the time.

The artist Christine Lee, who has been a lecturer at CCA for the past several years, was concerned about the effects of formaldehyde gas -- not only on people dwelling in structures made of these materials, but also on the artists who use them, possibly without even knowing they are exposing themselves to harm.

The arts and culture publication Artforum may be used to commenting on the world of museums and galleries, but now they find themselves as the work of art itself. In her Artforum Excavation Series, Francesca Pastine carves the magazines to form colorful, sculptural pieces that seem to melt down the wall, fold in on themselves, and form sculptural structures. Using an Xacto blade, the San Francsico-based artist painstakingly carved each page creating what she calls "unsolicited collaborations."

In December 2011, 12,000 people gathered in Durban, South Africa, at the 17th annual Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change to discuss and assess progress in dealing with climate change.