Painting with Bacteria
May 9 2024
Video: The University of St. Thomas, Minnesota
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
It seems that the future of scientific painting has arrived. The Art History and Biology departments at The University of St. Thomas, Minnesota, have teamed up to allow students to create artworks using bacteria. The process involves pigmented bacteria being painted onto petri dishes.
According to the University's website:
“We want to make sure that people don’t just think about art as decoration,” [Dr. Heather] Shirey explained. “It can create conversations between our disciplines, microbiology and art history, and engage people to think about art and science from interdisciplinary perspectives.”
Furthermore, Shirey wanted to collaborate with [Dr. Joanna] Klein to encourage students with an art history background to better embrace science, in addition, to enlighten students in STEM who may lack an appreciation for art history. By bringing the two disciplines together, Shirey wanted to make it accessible for students of both backgrounds.
