For several years, students in Assistant Professor Dr. Anya Goldina’s Human Anatomy and Physiology Course had the chance to earn extra credit by creating works of art that relate to anatomy and physiology. The Anatomy of Our Lives Exhibit, which opened in the Lyet Gallery at the Leffler Chapel and Performance Center on Sept. 26, now displays those works of art.

“I’ve been lucky enough to collect these and observe the process, and I shouldn’t be the only one seeing this,” Goldina said. “Art enriches science the way science can enrich the humanities.”

Goldina worked with Professor of Art History and Director of Fine Arts Division Dr. Patricia Ricci and Assistant Professor and Education Department Co-Chair Dr. Peter Licona to organize the exhibit. The group also worked with the Digital Humanities Hub, and were funded with a Collaborative Interdisciplinary Studies Program Grant by Elizabethtown College for the project.

“What started out as extra credit in one class ended up being a hugely integrative experience,” Goldina said. “Putting the three of us together allowed us to do a lot more than I was able to do individually.”

The exhibit features a variety of works and artistic approaches. In addition to paintings and drawings, there are sculpture and ceramic pieces, as well as household objects like dinner plates, clothing, lamps, and more.

“I was just delighted by them, there was such a great range in design,” Dr. Ricci said. “It’s a real credit to the students.”

“There’s a lot of variety in all the pieces, and I just think it looks really cool,” first-year Ellie Chibirka said. “The book folding is my favorite. It just looks so intricate and it must have taken the artist so much time.”

“The mosaic is super cool, and shows the myth of the left brain being mathematical and the right brain being more creative well,” junior Rachel Bickelman said of her favorite piece.

The collection emphasizes the connection between art and science, promoting the importance of the Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) movement.

“STEAM can demonstrate that in the sciences, we can be artistic, we can be creative,” Licona said.

“There’s an important connection between visual art and science,” Ricci said. “There is a reason biology books of any kind always have drawings. Through drawing in particular you can reveal much more about the structure of the human body than in a photo. The visual process to analyze structure has not gone out of style.”

Many of the pieces can function as educational materials that can be used to teach college students and children alike.

“One of my favorites is the apron with organs on the outside,” Licona said. “That’s a piece we used to teach students about their organs in Lancaster, to see where they are. It’s a nice sort of playful, artistic but anatomically correct piece you can talk about. They might not learn about anatomy in younger grades but they likely have questions about their own bodies, and these can be a good way to show it.”

The pieces Goldina has collected go beyond what can be seen in the exhibit. To help share them all with the public, Digital Humanities’ student researchers created a website as part of the college’s Summer Scholarship, Creative Arts and Research Project Program (SCARP). The website allows people to view the entire collection and learn about the various systems in the body they represent, with lesson plans and resources for educators, and can be found at https://kruser68.wixsite.com/mysite/.

“It’s become a digital humanities piece that can be accessed beyond campus,” senior and student researcher who worked on the website Aubrey Mitchell said.

The exhibit organizers said they hope that the exhibition can help inspire viewers and make science and anatomy less intimidating. The extra credit project invites students to bring their own talents and interests to the material in a process Goldina describes as empowering for students. When the students show the science through art, it shows that they understand the content and can communicate it in a way that is fun and highlights how interesting it is.

“Science is essential, but so many people say ‘I’m not a science person’ and block themselves from being able to understand it,” Goldina said. “People underestimate how much they can do and contribute and push themselves beyond what they expect they can do. [The art] stays behind and can inspire other people.”

Prior to being shown at Etown, the pieces were displayed at the North Museum for Nature and Science in Lancaster, PA in their STEAM Gallery this past summer. The pieces will be on display at Etown until Dec. 15.