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Data Is ART Winners Explore Truth Through Data and Creative Expression
The University of Virginia School of Data Science announced the winners of its 2026 Data Is ART competition on Friday, Sept. 4, celebrating three works that use data to explore the competition’s theme of “Truth.”
The Data Is ART competition was launched in 2024 and is held biannually, whose aim is to bring together artists, designers, data scientists, and creative thinkers.
This year's awards capped an evening of art, data, and visual storytelling that drew nearly 80 attendees to a full Capital One Hub at the School of Data Science.
Rachel Saidi was named the winner for “ICE Detention Data Visualized (1/1/23-10/16/25).” Padmini Chandrasekaran received an Honorable Mention for her “Family Touch” series, a visual record of the objects, people, and surroundings touched during an hour of daily life.
Anna Yao, a fourth-year data science major at UVA, received the People’s Choice Award for “Eclipse,” an animated and large-scale visualization of university research output that uses the imagery of a solar eclipse to explore discovery, perspective, and the evolving nature of knowledge.
The three winners were among eight finalists selected from more than 60 submissions. Their works, spanning digital visualization, sculpture, fiber, animation, and sound, will remain on display in the School of Data Science’s public gallery throughout the 2026-27 academic year.
Finding Truth Through Art and Data
Opening the awards ceremony, Interim Stephenson Dean Jeffrey Blume reflected on the connection between this year’s theme and the work of data scientists and artists alike.
“At its core, we collect data because we are trying to learn something true about the world, to understand it, describe it, and, in a very real sense, illustrate it,” Blume said.
But finding truth, he noted, is rarely as simple as collecting information.
“Data do not speak for themselves. We bring models to data. We choose which questions to ask and which patterns to pursue,” Blume said. “We do something remarkably similar with art. We experience it through our own view of the world, our own model, if you will. And great art can challenge that model and cause us to see something differently.”
Blume reminded the audience, "Data do not speak for themselves."
Designing With Purpose
The evening also featured a presentation by internationally recognized data visualization expert Alberto Cairo, Knight Chair in Infographics and Data Visualization at the University of Miami and director of visualization at the university’s Frost Institute for Data Science and Computing.
In his presentation, “Principled Design: Visualization and the Good Life,” Cairo moved beyond the technical questions that often dominate conversations about charts, maps, and data visualization to consider the values, motivations, and responsibilities of the people who create them.
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Drawing on his career in information design, visual journalism, and data visualization, Cairo asked the audience to consider what it means to live a “good life” as an information designer and how ethical principles can guide the choices designers make when turning information into visual form.
The presentation complemented the exhibition’s theme of Truth by underscoring that visualization is not a neutral act. Decisions about what to show, what to emphasize, and how information is presented shape the ways audiences encounter and understand data.
Cairo, author of four books on information design and visualization, including “The Truthful Art,” “How Charts Lie,” and “The Art of Insight,” also assisted the competition judges in selecting the Grand Prize and Honorable Mention winners.
An Exhibition for the Community
The eight finalists were selected by a jury composed of School of Data Science faculty members Alex Gates, Hannah Bako, and Nur Yildirim, with Cairo participating in final judging. The competition was organized by the School’s Art and Artifacts Committee, co-chaired by Gates and Emma Candelier. Funding for the competition was provided by the School of Data Science and the UVA Provost for the Arts.
Closing his earlier remarks, Blume thanked the finalists for contributing not only their work, but also new ways for the community to think about data.
“Thank you for sharing your work and vision with us, and for giving our entire community the opportunity to experience it here at the School of Data Science,” he said.
The 2026 Data Is ART competition is sponsored by the UVA School of Data Science. The exhibition is open to the public at the UVA School of Data Science (1919 Ivy Road, Charlottesville) throughout the 2026-27 academic year.
