
By Madelyn Ostendorf
What happens when you challenge people to find the intersection of art and science? Something beautiful!
Dior Kelley, assistant professor of genetics, development and cell biology, asked the Iowa State community to create works of art that reflected the theme “Crosspollinating Art and Science” as part of her Innovation and Entrepreneurship Faculty Fellows project.
Kelley, who studied both art and science during her undergraduate career at UC Santa Cruz, was inspired by the artwork featured on the fourth floor of the Student Innovation Center: “Harvest of Knowledge: Innovation and Inspiration” and “Swarm” by Reinaldo Correa Díaz.
“The idea of the exhibition was to shine a light on a different facet of work that's happening on campus,” Kelley said. “I wanted to uplift the creativity and science being done by different students."
Students from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences were invited to enter work that examined a scientific concept through an artistic lens or a creative concept through a scientific lens, either individually or collaboratively.
On Dec. 12, 2024, Kelley hosted an exhibition in the atrium of the Student Innovation Center to show off the art and award prizes to four art pieces.
Best In Show was presented to “Sanctity of Starlight” by Joshua Woolfolk, a senior in animal ecology, who has now graduated. His work featured a series of astrophotographs of the Northern Lights, taken with narrowbanding techniques, which utilize a system of light filtration and selective editing to achieve the perfect result.
Woolfolk said he was honored to participate in such a unique project, especially during the last semester of his college career.
“This experience is an important milestone for me,” Woolfolk said. “It is the last photographic project I completed in my undergraduate career. I also was honored to meet several deans of Iowa State University and showcase my passions.”
“Hive Mind” was a collaborative piece by Alex Kurtt, Eric Serrano and Amy Toth, and took home the Best in Collaboration and Best Use of the Student Innovation Center awards. A 3D print of an insect brain made with the Student Innovation Center’s 3D printer, the piece represents the brain of a bee, with the different sections of the brain highlighted in unique colors.
Wyatt Bailey’s “A Muddy Night” was awarded Most Inspired. This piece was created with mud, moss, and sticks collected by Bailey, a graduate student in entomology and soil science, and done in the style of Vincent van Gogh’s “The Starry Night.”
“With nearly every piece that I create, I aim to tell a story about the importance of agriculture or depict aspects of the industry that are often unseen by non-agriculturalists,” Bailey said. “As an artist, cross-pollination of art and science is what I aim to accomplish with every piece.”
Kelley hopes to continue holding these exhibitions and expanding the types of entries it sees.
“This fellows project is a two-year gig, so there are plenty of opportunities to do more exhibitions,” Kelley said. “Maybe these art pieces will become a permanent part of our classrooms in the Student Innovation Center in the future.”
All the art pieces entered in the exhibition are on display in the Dean’s Gallery on the first floor of Curtiss Hall for viewing.