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What is your position in the world?
That’s not a question commonly asked by scientists. But for Dr. Shelby Bourne, a University of Guelph artist and postdoctoral fellow leading the College Royals 100, it’s central.th Anniversary mural.
The mural design was unveiled this year at U of G’s annual open house, College Royal. It will be the latest artwork to be displayed in the University Center’s student lounge, and will be completed by Bourne over the next few weeks.
Vaughn, who studies under Dr. Madhur Anand, a professor in the School of Environmental Sciences (SES) at the Ontario College of Agriculture, says the mural is part of her larger mission to bridge fields that don’t often interact. .
“I’ve always been interested in different ways to learn about the world around me,” she says. “It involves art and science and how those two ways of knowing overlap.”
In her murals, Bourne employs her trademark style, which combines vast expanses of history with the intricate details of everyday life. She uses small motifs such as plants, leaves, living things, and other objects to guide the eye in a left-to-right flow, like a book or historical timeline.
These artistic choices, where individual elements are interwoven until they reveal a larger design, are about our interconnectedness and “sense of memory,” or how individual experiences ripple into larger interactions. This is an explanation, says Mr. Bourne.
“I want people to feel the weight of 100 years,” she says. “And we want them to think about how that weight will shape the future of the university and how they can be a part of that.”
Breaking down the barrier between science and art
Although the mural is a separate endeavor from her current research, Bourne sees it as an extension of her knowledge mobilization project, bringing together disciplines that are often at odds with each other.
She has an unusual research project. Her work at SES, where she also works with the International Institute for Critical Studies and Improvisation, is “insight through making.” She creates visual communications alongside research papers to understand what new knowledge can be formed and how science can be better communicated to a wider audience. .
“We are psychologically very drawn to visuals,” Vaughn says. “Being able to communicate my research visually to friends and family was very important to me. My research project bridged the barriers between science and art for me, as a scientist and artist, and for Dr. Anand. It gives us an opportunity to break down and work together as partners.”
Anand was recently named a 2024 YMCA Woman of the Year for her community leadership in bridging the arts and sciences. In addition to her international recognition for her ecological research, Anand also won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Nonfiction.
While studying with Anand, Vaughn continues to integrate art and science within OAC’s SES.
She hopes to have some important questions answered by the end of the project. “Is this partnership scalable?” What advice can artists give to scientists, and vice versa? What knowledge will be lost if artists and scientists don’t work together? Is not it?
Ecology that brings life
The central question behind the College Royal mural – “What is your place in the wider community?” – is as environmentally friendly as it is artistic.
“My understanding of ecology as living things interacting with the environment and other living things within that environment has expanded the breadth of my artistic practice,” she says. “I paint a lot of murals in specific locations. I also ask people viewing the murals to interact with both the mural, its context, and the surrounding environment.”
College Royal began as an agricultural show in 1925 and has since grown to include every university taking part. Bourne captures that historical memory and invites us to think deeply about what happened then, what is happening now, and where we fit into his story. I’m guiding you.
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