Science Museum Roundup

Anna Schier

International Museum of Surgical Science

Science museums are invaluable sources of knowledge. In fact, they house much more than scientific knowledge. Many of Chicago’s most beloved scientific institutions incorporate the visual arts as an integral element of their exhibitions, using art to enhance the geological, biological and environmental.

One such example is the Museum of Science and Industry, which puts on a program entitled Black Creativity annually, featuring African-American artwork. Earlier this year, the museum also hosted an exhibit called ART+Science=Architecture, which displayed the work of Adam Reed Tucker, an architect who builds iconic buildings out of LEGOs. The exhibit even offered the opportunity to see Tucker execute these structural feats in the museum.

Adam Reed Tucker

The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum also has an interest in the visual arts. Current exhibit Sanctuary: Flight of the Majestic Monarch follows the migration of the Monarch butterfly through paintings, multimedia works, photography and a mural which the artist will continue to develop throughout its time on display at the museum. Managing Eden, another temporary exhibit, features the photographs of Joann Brenan, who addresses issues of conservation in his work. Outside the museum, Steve Tobin’s enormous sculpture, Steelroots, a depiction of tree roots made entirely of recycled steel, provokes contemplation about the relationship between the industrial and the natural.

The Garfield Park Conservatory shows a similar interest in both the scientific and aesthetic elements of natural beauty. Among the conservatory’s permanent exhibits is Inspired by Nature, a photography show. The exhibit contains photographs and other visual records (drawings, maps, etc) chronicling the history of the conservatory.

Garfield Conservatory circa 1908

While many science museums incorporate visual art in one or two exhibits, the International Museum of Surgical Science takes this integration a step further. This charming museum, housed in a 1920s-era mansion, contains, along with a vast collection of surgical artifacts, a room dedicated entirely to statues of legendary scientists, a hall of murals depicting groundbreaking moments in medical history and several other paintings, sculptures and even hieroglyphics. On top of that, the IMSS also hosts a program entitled Anatomy in the Gallery, in which two working artists are each given a gallery space to mount a show comprising of pieces relating to surgery or medicine.

Kip Fulbeck

Another scientific institution that enthusiastically embraces artistic integration is the Field Museum. While the museum contains several cultural exhibits that include artifacts which are certainly artistically relevant, two of their five temporary shows particularly stand out.
Lasting Impressions: Chinese Rubbings from The Field Museum incorporates the aesthetic element of history and kip fulbeck: part asian, 100% hapa explores questions of identity, race and self-perception by showing photographs of multiracial individuals and their handwritten responses to the question “What are you?” Amongst its jungle creatures and dinosaurs, the Field Museum makes plenty of room for art.

Chicago’s scientific institutions contain exhibits displaying environmental science, biology and engineering. However, they never leave the arts behind. Instead, Chicago science museums harness the arts as a tool to enhance the scientific lessons and messages they aim to communicate to visitors, and make their exhibits that much more aesthetically appealing along the way.