Monica Torres Chancellor of NMSU System Community Colleges | nmsu.edu
Monica Torres Chancellor of NMSU System Community Colleges | nmsu.edu
New Mexico State University's assistant professor Juie Shetye, with support from a National Science Foundation grant, collaborated with senior art major Kayla Blundell to create an interdisciplinary project combining art and science. This project resulted in an artistic interpretation of a total solar eclipse using sculpture.
Shetye aimed to engage students through the arts for public outreach, allowing Blundell the autonomy to express her artistic vision. The collaboration was part of Shetye's broader vision of incorporating art into teaching and outreach, demonstrated by her previous experiences in England.
“One of the ways to make science attractive is to have something that stands out, and art stands out,” stated Shetye. “My aim is to help my undergraduate students. They’re not just solving equations. I want them to understand concepts. Art and hands-on experiments are the best way to do that.”
Blundell prepared for her project by attending Shetye's classes, touring the Dunn Solar Telescope and the Solar Observatory Visitor’s Center in Sunspot, New Mexico, and joining a field trip to Granbury, Texas. There, she observed a total eclipse while the research team studied atmospheric waves accompanying the phenomenon.
“The process was new for me, combining science and art and figuring out how to translate science into art so other people can understand it.” Blundell commented.
The sculpture, now displayed at the Solar Observatory Visitor’s Center, allows observers to explore it from multiple angles. Blundell designed it with digital assistance, including laser-cut acrylic shapes representing sun characteristics. Her 3D-printed and modified moon model integrates seamlessly with the whole design.
Extending the project beyond the sculpture, Shetye and Blundell plan to visit schools with interactive setups like a glass jar with ferrofluid, demonstrating the sun's magnetic interaction with Earth. “Kayla came up with all these experiments that we can setup,” Shetye explained. “One is using steel marbles to paint magnetically. So, what started as a science-plus-art project is something we can use in our labs and design a curriculum to augment our undergraduate education and use for community outreach in schools.”
Their efforts yielded two scholarly papers featuring an innovative study of eclipses and atmospheric gravity waves, published in the Bulletin of the Astronomical Society.
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