{"id":700422,"date":"2026-04-30T15:55:03","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T19:55:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=700422"},"modified":"2026-04-30T15:55:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T19:55:03","slug":"from-mushrooms-to-molecules-science-becomes-art-700422","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/from-mushrooms-to-molecules-science-becomes-art-700422\/","title":{"rendered":"From mushrooms to molecules, science becomes art"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ä¢¹½´«Ã½\u2019s annual Ed and Barbara Hajim Art of Science Competition showcases how scientific discovery takes visual form across disciplines.<\/h2>\n

More than 50 students, faculty, and staff submitted artwork in the 2026 Ed and Barbara Hajim Art of Science Competition<\/a>, the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½<\/a>\u2019s annual contest to explore and illuminate the aesthetic beauty that results when science, art, and technology intersect. Three winning entries will be permanently displayed in the\u00a0Carlson Library<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Held each spring, the competition is sponsored by the Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences<\/a> in collaboration with River Campus Libraries<\/a> and supported through an endowed fund established by Trustee Emeritus Ed Hajim \u201958 and his wife Barbara. Prizes are awarded for the top student submissions and for the People\u2019s Choice Award, with more than 500 members of the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ community casting votes.<\/p>\n

First Place and People\u2019s Choice Award<\/h3>\n
\"Ornate
The Architecture of Knowledge<\/em> by Matthew Ahn \u201928<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For the second consecutive year, the judges and the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ community voters selected the same top entry. Political science student Matthew Ahn \u201928 took home both first place and the People\u2019s Choice Award\u2014totaling $1,250\u2014for his hand-drawn ink illustration titled The Architecture of Knowledge<\/em>. Ahn says his ornate artwork featuring clocks, mechanical systems, geometric networks, and symbolic forms is intended to represent the structural layers of scientific discovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lower sections evoke instruments used to measure time and motion, while the upper sections introduce increasingly complex geometric and interconnected systems,\u201d he says. \u201cEach layer reflects how scientific knowledge builds progressively upon previous discoveries. The symmetry and intricate patterns invite viewers to explore the drawing at multiple scales, revealing new details much like scientific observation itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Second Place<\/h3>\n
\"A
Luminous Gills<\/em> by PhD student Meg Farinsky<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Physics PhD student Meg Farinsky was the runner-up with\u00a0Luminous Gills<\/em>,\u00a0her macro photograph of the gills on the underside of a pink oyster mushroom illuminated by grow lights. She photographed the home-grown culinary mushrooms using a 100 mm Rokinon macro lens on a Canon 5D Mark III camera.<\/p>\n

\u201cMushrooms\u2014pink oysters in particular\u2014are attracting a lot of scientific interest right now,\u201d says Farinsky. \u201cThey\u2019re being studied for applications in bioremediation and plastic degradation, sustainable food, and material production, and electrical signaling in fungal networks that resembles neural activity. Beyond their scientific relevance, their glowing gills and sculptural forms make them naturally compelling visual subjects.\u201d<\/p>\n

Third Place<\/h3>\n
\"A
Strings of Life<\/em> by Majd Tabsi \u201929<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Majd Tabsi \u201929, a biomedical engineering major, earned a place on the podium with\u00a0Strings of Life\u2014<\/em>a creative representation of DNA and gene editing using about a mile of string. Tabsi sketched a design and input it into software called MyZigzagArt, which uses an algorithm to generate a sequence of string passes to create a representation of the sketch. He made a circle of 250 nails on a 2 x 2 foot piece of wood and, over the course of 30 hours, made 2,500 string passes from one nail to another to produce the final artwork.<\/p>\n

\u201cHumanity has always wondered about how life is created and how traits are passed,\u201d says Tabsi. \u201cMendel\u2019s discovery of the laws of heredity started the ever-growing field of genetics. We later learned about the smallest strings that hold the keys to our evolution and the continuity of life\u2014DNA, or what my work calls ‘Strings of Life.’ We sought to map them, understand their construction, and even started trying to edit them using tools like CRISPR-Cas9, which is what the separated gene in my work refers to. Tools like these raise a variety of questions around the ethicality and the limitations of usage. But they also show what humanity is capable of. And the question remains: What will we do next?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The annual Ed and Barbara Hajim Art of Science Competition showcases how scientific discovery takes visual form across disciplines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1242,"featured_media":700622,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[18632,326,16072],"class_list":["post-700422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","tag-hajim-school-of-engineering-and-applied-sciences","tag-river-campus-libraries","tag-school-of-arts-and-sciences"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFrom mushrooms to molecules, science becomes art<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ä¢¹½´«Ã½\u2019s annual Ed and Barbara Hajim Art of Science Competition showcases how scientific discovery takes visual form across disciplines.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/from-mushrooms-to-molecules-science-becomes-art-700422\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From mushrooms to molecules, science becomes art\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ä¢¹½´«Ã½\u2019s annual Ed and Barbara Hajim Art of Science Competition showcases how scientific discovery takes visual form across disciplines.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/from-mushrooms-to-molecules-science-becomes-art-700422\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-30T19:55:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/fea-art-of-science-competition-2026-1200x630.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Luke Auburn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Luke Auburn\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/from-mushrooms-to-molecules-science-becomes-art-700422\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/from-mushrooms-to-molecules-science-becomes-art-700422\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Luke Auburn\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e928dc2863b53a89ece6d40c7992a4e1\"},\"headline\":\"From mushrooms to molecules, science becomes art\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-30T19:55:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/from-mushrooms-to-molecules-science-becomes-art-700422\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":637,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/from-mushrooms-to-molecules-science-becomes-art-700422\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/fea-art-of-science-competition-2026.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences\",\"River Campus Libraries\",\"School of Arts and Sciences\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Campus & Community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/from-mushrooms-to-molecules-science-becomes-art-700422\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/from-mushrooms-to-molecules-science-becomes-art-700422\\\/\",\"name\":\"From mushrooms to molecules, science becomes art\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/from-mushrooms-to-molecules-science-becomes-art-700422\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/from-mushrooms-to-molecules-science-becomes-art-700422\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/fea-art-of-science-competition-2026.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-30T19:55:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e928dc2863b53a89ece6d40c7992a4e1\"},\"description\":\"Ä¢¹½´«Ã½\u2019s annual Ed and Barbara Hajim Art of Science Competition showcases how scientific discovery takes visual form across disciplines.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/from-mushrooms-to-molecules-science-becomes-art-700422\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/from-mushrooms-to-molecules-science-becomes-art-700422\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/from-mushrooms-to-molecules-science-becomes-art-700422\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/fea-art-of-science-competition-2026.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/fea-art-of-science-competition-2026.jpg\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":1200,\"caption\":\"ART OF SCIENCE: Winners of the Ed and Barbara Hajim Art of Science competition display their award-winning art. From left: PhD student Meg Farinsky holds Luminous Gills; Matthew Ahn \u201928 holds The Architecture of Knowledge; and Majd Tabsi \u201929 holds Strings of Life. (Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ photo \\\/ Claudia Pietrzak)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/from-mushrooms-to-molecules-science-becomes-art-700422\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"From mushrooms to molecules, science becomes art\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/\",\"name\":\"News Center\",\"description\":\"Ä¢¹½´«Ã½\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e928dc2863b53a89ece6d40c7992a4e1\",\"name\":\"Luke Auburn\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/author\\\/lauburn\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"From mushrooms to molecules, science becomes art","description":"Ä¢¹½´«Ã½\u2019s annual Ed and Barbara Hajim Art of Science Competition showcases how scientific discovery takes visual form across disciplines.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/from-mushrooms-to-molecules-science-becomes-art-700422\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"From mushrooms to molecules, science becomes art","og_description":"Ä¢¹½´«Ã½\u2019s annual Ed and Barbara Hajim Art of Science Competition showcases how scientific discovery takes visual form across disciplines.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/from-mushrooms-to-molecules-science-becomes-art-700422\/","og_site_name":"News Center","article_published_time":"2026-04-30T19:55:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/fea-art-of-science-competition-2026-1200x630.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Luke Auburn","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Luke Auburn","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/from-mushrooms-to-molecules-science-becomes-art-700422\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/from-mushrooms-to-molecules-science-becomes-art-700422\/"},"author":{"name":"Luke Auburn","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/e928dc2863b53a89ece6d40c7992a4e1"},"headline":"From mushrooms to molecules, science becomes art","datePublished":"2026-04-30T19:55:03+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/from-mushrooms-to-molecules-science-becomes-art-700422\/"},"wordCount":637,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/from-mushrooms-to-molecules-science-becomes-art-700422\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/fea-art-of-science-competition-2026.jpg","keywords":["Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences","River Campus Libraries","School of Arts and Sciences"],"articleSection":["Campus & Community"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/from-mushrooms-to-molecules-science-becomes-art-700422\/","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/from-mushrooms-to-molecules-science-becomes-art-700422\/","name":"From mushrooms to molecules, science becomes art","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/from-mushrooms-to-molecules-science-becomes-art-700422\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/from-mushrooms-to-molecules-science-becomes-art-700422\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/fea-art-of-science-competition-2026.jpg","datePublished":"2026-04-30T19:55:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/e928dc2863b53a89ece6d40c7992a4e1"},"description":"Ä¢¹½´«Ã½\u2019s annual Ed and Barbara Hajim Art of Science Competition showcases how scientific discovery takes visual form across disciplines.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/from-mushrooms-to-molecules-science-becomes-art-700422\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/from-mushrooms-to-molecules-science-becomes-art-700422\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/from-mushrooms-to-molecules-science-becomes-art-700422\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/fea-art-of-science-competition-2026.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/fea-art-of-science-competition-2026.jpg","width":2000,"height":1200,"caption":"ART OF SCIENCE: Winners of the Ed and Barbara Hajim Art of Science competition display their award-winning art. From left: PhD student Meg Farinsky holds Luminous Gills; Matthew Ahn \u201928 holds The Architecture of Knowledge; and Majd Tabsi \u201929 holds Strings of Life. (Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ photo \/ Claudia Pietrzak)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/from-mushrooms-to-molecules-science-becomes-art-700422\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"From mushrooms to molecules, science becomes art"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/","name":"News Center","description":"Ä¢¹½´«Ã½","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/e928dc2863b53a89ece6d40c7992a4e1","name":"Luke Auburn","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/author\/lauburn\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1242"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=700422"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":700632,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700422\/revisions\/700632"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/700622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=700422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=700422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=700422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}