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Art contest winners from 2022 Diversity in STEM Week

Week of Diversity in STEM Art Contest

It's time for a new Diversity in STEM Art Contest!  Help us to celebrate the contributions that individuals from diverse walks of life have made to the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).  Submit your artistic contribution to be exhibited as part of the Diversity in STEM festivities during the week of February 5-9, 2024.  Any artistic medium that could be displayed on either an easel or a tabletop is welcome.  Cash prizes will be awarded!

Contest guidelines:

  • Art pieces must relate to the intersection of human diversity and STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).  Contributors will be asked to write a brief explanation of how their piece highlights the theme of Diversity in STEM.
  • Any medium that can be displayed as described above is welcome (e.g., painting, sketch, photograph, sculpture, wood carving, etc.).
  • We welcome submissions from students, faculty, staff, or community members.
  • Pieces must be ready to be displayed without difficulty on an easel, shelf, or tabletop.  Submissions should be delivered to the David Lucas Atrium on the 2nd floor of Weston Hall between 9am and noon (12pm) on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024.  Pieces will remain on display through the end of the week.
  • Contestants must fill out this online form to provide information about their piece of artwork.  Forms can be submitted at any time between now and when the artwork is dropped off.

This contest is sponsored by the NMU Biology Department in conjunction with the 2023 Week of Diversity in STEM

2023 Art Contest Winners!

Congratulations to the winners of the 2023 Week of Diversity in STEM Art Contest!

 

Best in Show

Erika Meints - "A Study of the Common Fungi"

Erika Meintz's artwork - notebook with watercolors and photos of fungi

 

Second Place

Sydney Romps - "Delicate Balance"

Sydney Romps's artwork - painting of animals in a food web

Artist's statement: "The idea of an ecosystem in ecology is a cycle of energy through different life forms. The idea of this piece is that we all rely on each other, and our apparent differences is what makes our world stronger. Everyone deserves an equal place in STEM fields like an ecosystem. If an organism is lost in this ecosystem, the rest of the group struggles. This is the same with our world. We have to acknowledge and support underrepresented groups to build diversity that makes these careers that much stronger."

 

Third Place

Hannah Blank - "The Eyes of the Beholder"

Hannah Blank's artwork - mixed media piece with gauzy layers obscuring a view of cells

Artist's statement: "My entry is a multilayer and multimedia piece. Using paper, watercolor markers, embroidery thread, and mesh stocking. In the back of the piece I created petri dish like samples that are only able to be viewed at the right angle. Last year I got diagnosed with ASD. I've always viewed the world differently than my peers and while at NMU it really became apparent. Biology has helped me view my surroundings in a way I never truly embraced. I view the world differently and I think it's beautiful."

 

Honorable Mention

Joshua Hybert - "Primeval"

Joshua Hybert's artwork - painting of molecules

Artist's statement: "this piece is a tribute to the primordial soup theory - in the beginning our world consisted of a mess of molecules that began commingling due to thermal motion and other phenomena, these elements began to associate with each other giving rise to more and more complex relationships - eventually becoming a self-replicating protein - and a single cell - which kept dividing and evolving - eventually giving rise to you and me :) - this piece honors that theory and depicts several naturally occurring alkaloids and compounds from various fruits and flowers"

 

People's Choice

Rev Derek Baluyut - "Sertraline"

Rev Derek Baluyut's artwork - Sertraline

Artist's statement: "Polarized light microscopy artist rendition image of the crystalline structure of Sertraline. Sertraline belongs to a group of medicines known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Diversity in a neurotypical world."