Interdisciplinary Course Links Art and Chemistry

Students from two seemingly disparate worlds came together in a new course. Art students ventured beyond the colorful world of paints, brushes and canvases into the chemistry lab. There they donned protective goggles, gloves and lab coats as they chemically synthesized pigments using the principles of inorganic chemistry. And chemistry students left behind the familiarity of heating plates and Erlenmeyer flasks and found themselves in the art studio with paint on their fingers. "We synthesized our own pigments in the lab, and now we're using the same types of pigments in the studio. It's a really clear association." said art student Samantha Laffey. "The Color of Minerals and Inorganic Pigments" was offered for the first time this fall. Students explored the concept of light as a wave and how light interacts with matter. They studied the electronic structure of atoms and molecules and the concept of chemical reactivity. But they also learned about the artistic and historical use of pigments and how the craft of painting used to be closely linked to the practice of pigment manufacture. Students learned that the distance between chemist and artist increased with the advent of mass-produced and marketed art materials in the nineteenth century.