VISTA NewsKeep up with all the latest activities and see what is happening with students in the VISTA Program!
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2017 - 2018
Sharing the Intersection of Art & Science with Students
Part of the VISTA mission is to engage with the community, not only through internships, but also through outreach. On July 23, Dr. Jamie Newman and Mr. Nick Bustamante traveled to Century Link in Monroe, LA to take part in a week-long science camp for elementary school aged children. Bustamante and Newman shared information on themselves, including how they got to Louisiana from California, what work they do in their studio and lab, and how they met to bring this interdisciplinary area of study to students at Louisiana Tech. After talking about the need for art and visual communication of science, the 20 camp participants were given supplies to create their own art work related to DNA, base pairing, and the double helilx. Each student put their own creative touch on the exercise creating bracelets demonstrating DNA base pairing and drawings. One group, after complaining that they were not creative and couldn't draw, began building a helix out of markers on the floor. As they were doing this they became so excited they started collecting all the markers they could find so that they could build a 6 foot long helix! It was a great to see the creativity of these kids and watching each of them find their comfort zone and way to express themselves even when they thought they couldn't.
VISTA Joins International Collaboration
Members of Louisiana Tech University’s Visual Integration of Science Through Art (VISTA) program traveled to Cyprus as part of an international research team collaborating on visual literacy projects. Visual literacy involves using images and different factors of design to help communicate information more effectively. The Visual Literacy (ViLi) Project is a collaboration comprised of faculty from universities in the UK, Cyprus, Greece, and Austria. Faculty from Louisiana Tech recently started working with this international team to explore areas of collaboration that could benefit students and educators seeking to share information in the modern global context. Initially, Tech Professor Dr. Kirk St. Amant, who holds the Eunice C. Williamson Endowed Chair, was invited to participate in the collaboration. He then invited VISTA faculty and students working in the area of pre-medical illustration to collaborate with the ViLi team on projects. The local team’s first work with ViLi helped explain aspects of visual literacy and communication. VISTA’s Nicholas Bustamante and Dr. Jamie Newman traveled to Cyprus to participate in the ViLi team’s semi-annual project meeting and to share the work Louisiana Tech students produced for a specific ViLi project: an open-access online course. Bustamante and Newman also presented other VISTA program successes and highlighted additional opportunities for Louisiana Tech and the ViLi team to collaborate. “This international collaboration featuring student work is an incredible opportunity for Louisiana Tech and one we look forward to continuing in the future,” Newman said. The recent Louisiana Tech-ViLi collaboration involved an online course developed by ViLi. The course was designed to provide professionals working in higher education with an understanding of how to better integrate visuals in the classroom and instructional materials. As an open-access course, its content is freely available to anyone interested in understanding how visual aids can be used to improve learning outcomes. The goal of the ViLi project – and the course – is to have 5,000 users, and the launch of an updated version of the course is scheduled for October 2018. This project fits within the goals of the VISTA program, which provides students with unique opportunities to use art to communicate scientific information to different audiences. “The ViLi course represents a great opportunity to expose students to international collaborations and the impact the universality of images and visual aids in education,” Bustamante said. For the ViLi project, students created infographics to teach fundamental design concepts. The infographics were designed to teach others, including educators, how to create their own visual images. VISTA students Cinthia Rincon, Sarah Ilgenfritz, and Jade Noble collaborated with the ViLi partners to create a series of images for the online ViLi course so that participants can overcome language barriers and have greater access to content. The success of this initial set of images has generated additional opportunities for students to continue contributing to the course. Specifically, the digital painting class and work of pre-medical illustration students will serve as a case study for the on-line course. In addition, the VISTA program will work with the ViLi project to measure the impact that different images have on different audiences in order to generate models for using visuals to communicate scientific and medical information effectively. ViLi is sponsored by an Erasmus+ grant from the European Union. Local support from the University, the Eunice C. Williamson Endowment Fund, Tech’s Technical Communication Program, the College of Liberal Arts, and the School of Biological Sciences made the Cyprus trip possible. - Published as part of Louisiana Tech News on July 18, 2018
VISTA Art Exhibit Features Digital Painting and 3D Printing
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VISTA Represents Louisiana Tech at UL Capital Day
On Wednesday, March 11, VISTA represented Louisiana Tech University at the University of Louisiana Capital Day. This was a day to advocate and show support for higher education and it was an honor to be the academic program selected to be a part of this event. Digital Painting student Cinthia Rincon demonstrated and shared her tablet with students from other universities who came by and we even got Champ and the University of New Orleans mascot to give the tablets and digital painting a try. It was a beautiful day at the Capital full of students from across the state and a lot of championing for higher ed.
Scott Barrows Visits Louisiana Tech
On March 18-20 Scott Barrows, Director of Medical Visualization at Jump Simulation, a medical simulation company and think tank, came to Ruston to visit Louisiana Tech and learn about the program in biological visualization. Scott is an accomplished illustrator and is at the forefront of technology for medical simulation and education in areas of virtual and augmented reality. It was an honor to have Scott visit our program and join us in our open house to showcase the new VISTA lab where students can work, present, and meet with clients. Scott wrote about his visit for his company and shared it with us. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with Scott and very much appreciate him taking the time to visit us.
Students Recognized for Success in Digital Painting
March 20, 2018. Digital Painting students Anna Morris and Cinthia Rincon were honored in a special lunch last Monday for their accomplishments in digital painting. Anna and Cinthia were honored with their own wacom tablets and will have their artwork displayed on the Louisiana Tech 2018-2019 New Frontiers in Biomedical Research Seminar Series Brochure.
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VISTA and Digital Painting Featured in Dr. Guice's Blog!
March 18, 2018. University President, Dr. Guice, was at a luncheon to honor outstanding students from the winter offering of digital painting.
February 10, 2018. University President, Dr. Guice, payed a visit to the winter quarter Digital Painting Class to see what the students were working on. He will return to see the final projects on February 27. |
2016 - 2017
Medical Illustration Exhibit
February 21, 2017: Faculty from Louisiana Tech University’s School of Design, School of Biological Sciences and Biomedical Engineering program will showcase the digital art of their students at the 2nd Annual Student Digital Painting Art Exhibit and Auction, March 10 at the F.J. Taylor Visual Art Center Gallery on the campus of Louisiana Tech. |
Science Cafe
January 12, 2017: Louisiana Tech University’s chapter of the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Honor Society will host a discussion titled, “Visual Integration of Science Through Art (VISTA): Medical Illustration at Louisiana Tech” at 5:30 p.m. January 24 as part of their Science Café series. |
Professional Medical Illustrator Visits Louisiana Tech
March 16, 2017: Natalie Doolittle, director of medical animation at High Impact, Inc., will visit Louisiana Tech University on March 27 for a presentation titled, “Biomedical Visualization: Art Influencing Science and Medicine,” as part of the New Frontiers in Biomedical Research lecture series.
New Frontiers
September 30, 2016: Louisiana Tech University is set to launch the 2016-2017 edition of its highly-popular New Frontiers in Biomedical Research seminar series, featuring interdisciplinary collaborations and research discussions with some of the nation’s most renowned scientists and speakers. |
Student Art Exhibit
April 25, 2016: Faculty from Louisiana Tech University’s biological sciences and biomedical engineering programs teamed up with art faculty from the School of Design to provide students with a unique opportunity to use their talents to promote Louisiana Tech’s New Frontiers in Biomedical Research lecture series. |