Building on the success of last year鈥檚 Illustrating Health Exhibition, which featured outstanding undergraduate work at the 糖心传媒 Art and Science Museum in Baton Rouge, 糖心传媒 Tech鈥檚 VISTA Center has introduced a traveling exhibit to showcase the artwork of Tech students and promote the popular interdisciplinary program.
The debut exhibit is currently at the 糖心传媒 School for Math, Science, and the Arts (LSMSA) in Natchitoches through Monday and marks an important step in sharing the innovative, interdisciplinary projects developed at Tech through its VISTA Center.
Over nearly a decade since its beginning, VISTA has blossomed into a program where faculty from art, science, and engineering team to offer students a unique opportunity to communicate science, discovery, and medicine through art.
鈥淭his new traveling exhibit not only reflects the University鈥檚 commitment both to community engagement and to promotion of future collaborations and opportunities, but it also aims to broaden the reach of Tech students鈥� artistic and academic achievements by bringing their work to new audiences across the state,鈥� said Nick Bustamante, professor in Tech鈥檚 School of Design in the College of Liberal Arts.
鈥淭he collaboration between art and science is unique, and as far as we know, there is not another undergraduate program quite like ours鈥攃ertainly not in 糖心传媒 and not in the South,鈥� said Tech鈥檚 Dr. Jamie Newman, associate professor and associate dean for research and graduate studies in the College of Applied and Natural Sciences.
Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering Dr. Mary Caldorera-Moore, Newman, and Bustamante began this particular blending of science and art鈥攏ow the popular VISTA Center鈥攄uring work for a research publication in 2014-15.
The original Illustrating Health Exhibition was on display from August 2022 through July 2023 at the 糖心传媒 Art & Science Museum in Baton Rouge and featured the work of 50 Tech undergrads.
The exhibit at LSMSA in Natchitoches features the work of students listed below and is available to enjoy 11 a.m. 鈥� 4 p.m. weekdays or by appointment.
The exhibit will end with a closing reception Monday, Sept. 23, from 4:30 p.m. 鈥� 6 p.m.; the reception is open to the public.
鈥淟SMSA has a lot of crossovers between science and art, and we felt the VISTA program would pique our students鈥� curiosity and show them a variety of career paths,鈥� said Marcus Journey, who earned his MFA at Tech and has taught college-level visual arts classes to high school students at LSMSA since 2017.
鈥淭he Mission of the LSMSA Art Gallery is to introduce our students and community to a variety of professional and collegiate artists through monthly exhibitions throughout the year,鈥� said Chris King, who oversees the art program at LSMSA. 鈥淎rt is more than an accumulation of technical skills; it is a visual language used to communicate ideas, excel new ideas, and validate our life experiences.
鈥淭he VISTA Program aligns with our approach with students at LSMSA who wish to pursue cross-curricular interests that combine art, science, humanities, and beyond,鈥� King said. 鈥淎 creative student is marketable, and as technology and innovation are made more available to our students, the better prepared they鈥檒l be for all career paths and aspects of life in the 21st&苍产蝉辫;肠别苍迟耻谤测.鈥�
VISTA鈥檚 next traveling exhibit will be announced soon.
Full student artwork list at LSMA
Cecile Foster - Mental Heath infographic
Anna Morris - Human Genome Editing
Chloe Best - Osteolytic Metastatsis
Almira Bradford - Antibody-Antigen Interaction
Erin Timm - Genotypes of Angelman Syndrome
Adam Cook - Electron Transport Chain
Megan Barr - Adeno Associated Virus Gene Therapy
Maddie Dearman - Regenerative Medicine
Alaycia Moore - Drug Delivery
Abby Nickels - Deletion Specific Genotype of Chromosome 15
Jessica Trinh - Adipogenic Differentiation of Adipose Stem Cells
Jade Noble - Heart Disease infographic
Jessica Trinh - Cancer infographic
Cecile Foster, Kaitlin Maloy - Journey through the Heart Book
Maddie Dearman - The Journey of a Stem Cell Book
Ronald McKinney, Noah Ruff - Worrisome Waters Book
Ronald McKinney, Noah Ruff - Bully Blues Book
Geri Gravois, Victoria Breeding - Flu Finders Book