Amidst A Global Pandemic, Agar Art Contest Proves Microbes Still Represent Beauty
Washington, D.C. – December 15, 2020 – ý announces the winners of their 6th annual Agar Art Contest. Submissions of artwork were created using living, growing microbes ‘painted’ on agar, a gelatin-like substance that serves as food for the microorganisms. This year, submissions were also accepted in a new “open” category, in which participants could illustrate the beauty of microbes using any art form. ASM’s Agar Art Contest began in 2015 and merges science with art to engage the public with microbiology and highlight the beauty and diversity of the microbial world.“This year, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fact that many people don’t have their usual access to labs, we decided to create a new ‘open’ category,” said Geoff Hunt, Ph. D., Public Outreach Specialist at the American Society for ý, who organizes the contest. “Based on the amazingly creative submissions we got, this category will definitely be a part of the contest in future years!”
"The Gardener," created by Joanne Dungo from Northridge Hospital Medical Center in Northridge, CA, took 1st place in the contest. “A colleague of mine once said that a microbiologist is like a gardener. Just like a gardener uses seeds, soil, and water to grow flowers and plants, a microbiologist uses microorganisms, like bacteria and yeast, to grow them in nutrient-filled agar petri dishes," said Joanne.
“I love my microbiome,” (left) by Ariana Gestal-Gurr from Shreveport, Louisiana, won 1st place in the kids contest. It was created with nasal microbiota on LB agar with the goal of demonstrating to kids what they have in their noses. “Dinosaur at Sunset,” (right) by Aziliz C Pernet, won 2nd place. It was created with Serratia marcescens (red) and Micrococcus luteus (yellow) on Tryptic Soy Agar by 5 year old Aziliz. This is her very first streak plate, depicting a dinosaur staring at an orange sky at sunset.
"Open" Category Winners:
“Lactophenol-cotton blue clay stain,” by Adriana Celis Ramirez and Valeri Sáenz Moncaleano from Universidad de Los Andes in Bogota, Colombia, won 2nd place. This artwork is a handmade clay sculpture, blue glass and a variety of blue and white clay paints. About a three-month job linking our scientific mind with our "artistic mind."
"This clay sculpture represents the interconnection between clay a fine-grained natural soil material (the environment) and human mycosis. Clay develops plasticity when wet, as well as Aspergillus, Penicillum, Rhizopus, and Fusarium can cause invasive infection after a flood or as Fusarium can cause opportunistic infection in aquatic animals," said Adriana and Valeri.
“12 Days of Agar Art,” by Michael E. Taveirne, Regino M. Fernandes II, Nathaniel James Browning and Ty Grewell from North Carolina State University ý Club in Raleigh, North Carolina, won 3rd place in the "open" contest.
"In this cumulative music video, we introduce a new concept in microbiology for each new day. All the images were created with Agar Art using the bioluminescent (glowing) bacterium Photobacterium leiognathi, which is presented on Day 1. This bacterium produces a blue hue bioluminescence, some of the agar art images were false-colored for festive fun," said the creators.
The People's Choice prize in the open category goes to “Hand Embroidered Pandemic Shirt” by Katherine Carpenter and Chris Carpenter from Shoreline, Washington. It was created from a white T-shirt hand embroidered using DMC floss in various colors.
"Just before quarantine, I started my biggest hand embroidery project to date the pandemic shirt. I painstakingly embroidered depictions of 41 bacteria, viruses, prions, and other disease-causing microbes. I chose each microbe based on its shape (for visual appeal) and pathogenicity (for cool factor)," said Katherine.
“Beauty and the Beast,” by Christian Gabriel Austria Lucas from the Institute of Technical Education in Singapore, won the People's Choice prize for an image. "This masterpiece was inspired by the rose in “Beauty and the Beast.” It was a memorable moment driven from my childhood as it was one of the first cartoons that I could recall. It is such an honor to be able to display and share my childhood to everyone in this agar art contest," said Christian.
The winner of the "open" category for kids goes to “The Mysterious Microbes” by Ethan Lin from South Grove Elementary School in Syosset, New York. He used oil pastels on paper to draw many different types of microbes. "Each microbe has a different job, some are like doctors, some are like fighters, and some are not nice to other microbes. They all live together in one place, doing their own job like artists work to mix paints and make new colors," said Ethan.
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ý is one of the largest professional societies dedicated to the life sciences and is composed of 30,000 scientists and health practitioners. ASM's mission is to promote and advance the microbial sciences.
ASM advances the microbial sciences through conferences, publications, certifications, educational opportunities and advocacy efforts. It enhances laboratory capacity around the globe through training and resources. It provides a network for scientists in academia, industry and clinical settings. Additionally, ASM promotes a deeper understanding of the microbial sciences to diverse audiences.
ASM advances the microbial sciences through conferences, publications, certifications, educational opportunities and advocacy efforts. It enhances laboratory capacity around the globe through training and resources. It provides a network for scientists in academia, industry and clinical settings. Additionally, ASM promotes a deeper understanding of the microbial sciences to diverse audiences.
