By Kevin Hunter

Introduction to my Inquiry: Agar Art

Growing up, I had always admired art, but I felt that I did not possess the skill or the passion to complete my own works. When I began my journey as a microbiologist, I stumbled across some artwork on social media called “agar art” and I was enamored. I felt that I could apply my knowledge of microbiology and apply the skills I acquired through academia and industry to make agar art!

For my free inquiry project, I am going to learn how to make agar art and share some of my scientific background behind it!

So, what exactly is “agar art”? Agar art is done in a petri dish and is conducted by “painting” or transferring cultures of bacteria onto a solid-state, nutrient-rich medium called agar. The initial artwork is usually not visible initially, but after a day in an incubator, the bacteria will grow into various colours in the pattern you painted them on.

I found that the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) is incredibly useful resource for agar art. It has information about making agar, general aseptic techniques, creating agar art, and finally photographing your masterpiece! They also have a contest where you can submit artwork!

A video from ASM describing how to make Agar Art!

For this Inquiry, I plan on keeping information as general as possible, as I understand that not everyone has a scientific background. I also want to keep this inquiry enjoyable for both myself and for anyone who reads this!

3 Comments

  1. selenabrar

    Hey Kevin!

    This concept is super unique! I am so excited to see where you go with this inquiry project. As a fellow science major (I received a BSc in Chemistry from UVic) these intersections of art and STEM are fascinating to me. The example photos you included were beautiful – I am curious as to what bacteria make those colours? Does it have to do with the type of nutrients on the plate as well? How do you go about making the colonies at home? So many questions! I am excited to see where you go with this project, and maybe learn a thing or two about both biology AND art from it 🙂

  2. jeffnals

    Kevin, I am also garbage at art. I don’t have the patience for it, nor do I have any skills in creating something that actually looks like anything. It’s cool to see a way that you can connect your academic interests in science into creating art. Not only that, but it’s a method that takes some time to present itself through incubation. Hopefully, the products are what you’re looking for. Good luck! I can’t wait to see the results!

  3. njharris

    Kevin! This is amazing. As a fellow scientist I am super interested in learning more about agar art. I want to learn more about how you can make different colours. What agar do you use, what additives do you add to make a colour etc.

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