Unleash your inner artist—and learn some chemistry too. Visit the links below to learn more about connections between art and chemistry and to find hands-on art projects to try.
Sections
Activities
- Radial Chromatography
White t-shirts are the canvas for your colorful chemistry chromatography designs. - Celebrating Chemistry & Art!
Can trout be chemically artistic? Yes! Try it and other fun projects. - Art in Chemistry; Chemistry in Art
Take a peek inside Greenberg and Patterson’s book using Google Book for a wide sampling of ways to link chemistry and art. - Chemistry and Art
Discover chemistry through art, with lots of experiments to choose from. - Exploring Materials—Stained-Glass Windows
Art goes nano with these examples of stained glass. Make your own version with colorful tissue paper. - Colorful Lather Printing
Shaving cream moves from the bathroom to the art room. Create unique marbled art, with the help of chemistry.
- Egg Tempera
Eggs. They’re not just for breakfast anymore. Make your own paint, with egg yolk as one of the ingredients.
- Making Wax Crayons
Hark back to your childhood days as you formulate your own crayons. Which combo works best? - Elements, Compounds, and Pigments
Artists of old rejoiced at the discovery of cobalt, cadmium, and chromium. Find out why. - Stained Glass Sugar
Make your own colored glass creation. Admire its beauty and then… eat it! - Slime Art
The fun doesn’t have to stop after you’ve made slime and played with it. Use it to create art when you’re done. - Chemistry and Art: Analyze a Painting
What sort of science would you see in the 1700s? The painting tells the tale. - Resin Jewelry in the Classroom
Catch an item you love the look of, then cure it to make wearable art. - The Science of Frescos
Wet paint on a dry surface vs. wet paint on a wet surface. How do the results change? - Paper Snowflakes to Model Flat Symmetrical Molecules
These structures look like sculptures, but teach us about molecules at the same time.
Articles
- Artistic Chemistry: A Beautiful Collaboration
Raku pottery brings treasure from a trash can. Redox reactions bring the beauty.
- Profile with Tyler Thrasher, Artist and Chemist
Thrasher takes crystals and chemistry outside the book to create art. - Young Artists Show It's All a Matter of Chemistry
Consider these works of art created by considering life through a chemistry lens. - Living Art: When a Chemistry Lab Doubles as an Art Studio
Fluorescent proteins are this scientist’s research, but also his artistic break from it. - Chemistry & Art
Chemistry isn’t just part of creating art, it can also be used to preserve it for future generations. - Authentic or Not? Chemistry Solves the Mystery
Art forgers have some serious skills. What can science do to detect their work? - Chemistry in the Arts
Meld chemistry and art into a career. What are some options? - Pigments through the Ages
It’s a walk through an art museum and a science museum rolled into one, from the comfort of your own chair. - Preserving Paintings Teaches Art, Chemistry, and More
These school campuses had a hidden treasure. Chemistry helped reveal it. - Artwork Created by Chemistry on Copper
Think it’s paint? Think again. The chemistry of copper is behind this artist’s work. - The Colourful Science
Serendipitous science provided beautiful pigments for artists. Find out about these happy accidents. - Photography as a Tool for Communicating Science
Are these photographers artists? Scientists? Communicators? Or… all of the above? - Artistry, Chemistry, Secrecy
Masters of art needed masters of chemistry to help them achieve their vision. Uncover the secrets of Tiffany glass.
- Modern Chemistry Techniques Save Ancient Art
Cleaning these paintings needs more than a dust cloth. Lasers and bacteria become art conservation tools. - Periodic Table Project (2011)
Timeline of Elements (2019)
See creations from students around the globe as they interpret the periodic table as art for the International Year of Chemistry. - Art and Chemistry
POPcasso communicates some of the “big ideas” in chemistry. See the art and hear from the artist. - The Secret Science of Pencils and Erasers
From a burnt stick to the #2 wonders you use today—find some facts about pencils. - Pencils and Pencil Lead
Everyday pencils have a long history. Read about the earliest forms of these drawing tools.
- Chemistry and Paint
We can buy ready-made paint in tubes. What options did ancient artists have? - The Chemistry of Oil Painting
Using oil paints can give work a luminous glow. What are the ins and outs of this medium? - Inorganic Paint Pigment Compounds
Check out these go-to compounds for particular colors in paint. - Why Are Georgia O'Keeffe's Paintings Breaking Out in Pimples?
There’s a chemical reaction causing “art acne.” Can we stop it? - The Science of Pour Painting
The results of this colorful fluid flow can be guided with some research. - New Methods to Clean Murals of Graffiti
Street art can be tough to keep protected from vandalism. Chemistry provides a new tool. - Chemistry Class as Art Gallery
Nature’s chemistry provided the inspiration, students provided the artwork.