Title

Moss Mural

Author(s)

Chelsea FredriksonFollow

Major

Art

Advisor

Dilworth, Robert

Advisor Department

Art & Art History

Date

5-2012

Keywords

moss; mural; fine arts,; life science; green; waterbear

Abstract

Moss Mural: Bridging the Arts and Sciences

Chelsea Fredrikson

Major: Fine Arts

Advisor: Robert Dilworth

Advisor Department: Fine Arts

Date 5-2012

Abstract

When we are young, in elementary school, we are encouraged to learn subjects together. Fine arts, science, math, and literature all work as one, and overlap to teach us valuable lessons and tools we can use as we grow. But as we become older school systems segregate subjects, forcing students to chose a direction. Do I have a creative mind, or a logical mind?

As an art student I’ve tried over the course of my college career to push hard against the stigma that the arts and sciences are separate entities. Much of my work is inspired by the natural sciences – landscapes, habitants of the deep sea, and microscopic creatures. For this project I wanted to combine my love of nature and my childlike curiosity for the sciences with my artistic tendency, in order to create something for the public viewing. Out of this desire came the idea for a moss mural.

This project presented many challenges, not unlike those found in a laboratory or those found in an artist’s studio. But through the process I have gained more appreciation for that part of me that is still a child hunched over a toy microscope, attempting to draw what I see. It has also further affirmed my belief that within each of us lies both an artist and a scientist, and that both of these parts should be allowed to grow and flourish equally throughout our educations and our lives.