Wright State University students combined creativity and science during the Paint Your Petri Plates event hosted by the Department of Medical Sciences. Using petri dishes and non-toxic paints, participants turned lab tools into art pieces, promoting creativity, collaboration and curiosity across campus disciplines.
Blending creativity and microbiology
Science and art came together this week at WSU as students swapped pipettes for paintbrushes during the Paint Your Petri Plates event. The Department of Medical Sciences hosted an event in which students used petri dishes as canvases. Instead of bacterial culture, the plates contained bright non-toxic plaints allowing participants to create, decorate and display their own scientific artwork.
The program was part of an ongoing effort to make science more accessible and engaging on campus. Organizers stated that the hand on exercise allows students to engage with lab facilities in an enjoyable, low-pressure environment.
Yashoda Omkaresha is the President of the club and helped organize the event. She coordinated with club members, arranged the venue and prepared discussion topics that encouraged open dialogue and inclusivity.
"We wanted to show students that science isn't just about formulas and lab reports," Omkaresha said. "It is a vital element of research and discovery."
Crossing boundaries between STEM and art
The event brought students from both STEM and non-STEM fields allowing individuals from diverse academic backgrounds to explore the connection of science and self-expression.
For many students, the event was a welcome change of pace from typical coursework.
Some students made elaborate cell structures, painting with blues and greens to match what they had seen in the microscope. Others drew abstract patterns, twirling on whites of bright hue in forms that recalled growing colonies. Some even added tiny details with toothpicks and pipettes normally used in experiments now being utilized as instruments of art.
Arjun Anil, a student at the department of microbiology and immunology, has been working with petri dishes for the past five years. Over the years, he had received substantial hands-on expertise growing microbes, examining bacterial growth patterns and performing antibiotic resistance.
"I spend a lot of time in the lab for my biology classes, but this was something totally different," Anil said. "It's still practical science but in a way that's fun and relaxing."
Keifer Clark, a student from the arts department attended the event with great enthusiasm. Though his background is in the arts, he was eager to explore the intersection of creativity and science. He viewed the petri dish as a new kind of canvas- one that challenged him to think beyond traditional material.
"I'm not even a science major. It was wonderful to walk into the classroom and discover how art and science intersect. We express creativity in various ways, but it is the same stance," Clark said.
From experiments to expression
The Department of Medical Sciences set up the event as part of a wider effort to make scientific environments more welcoming and engaging. Faculty claim that combining art and science help students see classroom conditions as spaces for exploration rather than anxiousness.
"We are trying to break down the idea that labs are only for scientists in white coats," Omkaresha said. "Science if for everyone and sometimes all it takes is a splash of color to show that."
The finished petri plate paintings were left to dry and later the students carried the plate with them to their dorms. Organizers said they plan to host similar art-based science events throughout the semester, promoting cross disciplinary learning and student engagement.
"Science and art both begin with curiosity," Clark said. "This event celebrated that curiosity and shows that creativity can grow anywhere even in petri dish."
Students who participated express their desire that the event will continue to showcase WSU's experimental learning culture and become a regular occurrence. The fusion of creativity and scientific curiosity left participants with one clear takeaway-that science, much like art, thrives on imagination, color and collaboration.
