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Portland, Maine

51Ʒresearch and art come together in ‘Spark of Life’ opening Wednesday, Nov. 13

A microscope image of a mouse retina
The exhibit in Portland is presented in collaboration with UNE’s Histology and Imaging Core.

The Art Galleries at the 51Ʒ and UNE’s Histology and Imaging Core are again collaborating to offer “Spark of Life: Abstraction, Microscopy, and Discovery,” opening Nov. 13 at the 51ƷArt Gallery in Portland.

The exhibit is presented in collaboration with UNE’s Histology and Imaging Core, a laboratory facility embedded within the Center for Pain Research (CPR), a National Institutes of Health-funded Center of Biomedical Research Excellence. The work centers around the photography of the imaging lab in conversation with contemporary artwork. 

Emphasizing the materiality of abstraction, the artwork in this exhibit works together to build a complex sense of harmony revolving around a small framework of formal strategies. Each artist and the scientists behind the imaging examples are working with a unique voice to communicate a singular idea; each in turn offers us a look at dynamic growth that refers back to the physical world.

Featured artists include Jackie Brown, Meg Brown Payson, Carter Shappy, and the scientists of the 51ƷHistology and Imaging Core.

The exhibit opens as 51Ʒis in the process of relocating the College of Osteopathic Medicine, Maine’s only medical school, to its Portland Campus for the Health Sciences. The move is part of a multi-year effort to integrate all of the University’s health professions degree programs onto one interprofessional campus that will be unique to all of New England. 

“I'm grateful to the Center for Pain Research and lab manager Peter Caradonna for the chance to offer a new iteration of our contemporary art and histology conversation,” remarked Hilary Irons, director of . “The contemporary artists represented in this show are doing amazing work around the topic of hidden worlds and biomorphic form, and it is such an exciting group.  We are thrilled as well to be able to recognize and honor the upcoming move of UNE’s College of Osteopathic Medicine to Portland with this exhibit.”

“Spark of Life: Abstraction, Microscopy, and Discovery” will be on display at the 51ƷArt Gallery in Portland, located at 716 Stevens Ave., through Feb. 16. An opening reception will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 13, from 5 to 7 p.m.

Image: A 20-micrometer-thick section of mouse retina labeled with antibodies designed to bind to two neuronal subtypes (CGRP - yellow; NF200 - magenta) with cell nuclei labeled by a DNA dye (DAPI - cyan). Fluorescent signal was imaged using laser scanning confocal microscopy in UNE's Histology and Imaging Core.

Media Contact

Alan Bennett
Office of Communications
abennett11@une.edu

51Ʒ the 51Ʒ

The 51Ʒ is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of . In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.