Art Meets Science
Our scientists work collaboratively to understand the secrets of how nature works and to apply that understanding to improve the human condition. When science meets art, new ways of seeing emerge. Join us as we explore how these complementary disciplines expand our understanding and reveal the interconnected beauty of our world.
Private Museum Tours
Star Point Society members are invited to join President Hermann Haller, M.D., for personalized museum tours in cities across the nation. We’ll discuss the lessons art can impart and the unique role these rich images play in documenting our scientific history.
Our goal is for participants to come away with a fresh appreciation for the parallels between artists and scientists, and for the curiosity and courage needed to translate observation into lasting impact.
Recent Art Meets Science Tour Locations
2026 Art Meets Science Exhibit
This summer, MDI Biological Laboratory presents Luminous: Poetry and the Microscopic World. This gallery exhibit is inspired by C. elegans — a remarkable nematode and tiny organism that has had an outsized impact on biomedical research.
The show features poetry by Maine’s sixth Poet Laureate Julia Bouwsma, whose work reflects on themes of life, resilience, inheritance and connection. Her poems are presented alongside visual imagery celebrating the beauty and scientific significance of C. elegans, creating a dialogue between art and research.
We invite visitors to explore how science and poetry intersect — and how even the smallest living systems can inspire big questions about what it means to be alive. The exhibit runs June 30 through August 28.
Julia Bouwsma lives off-the-grid in the mountains of western Maine where she works as a poet, homesteader, editor, teacher and small-town librarian. She is Maine’s sixth Poet Laureate, having served a term from 2021 to 2026, and is the author of three poetry collections: Death Fluorescence (Sundress Publications, June 2025), Midden (Fordham University Press, 2018), and Work by Bloodlight (Cider Press Review, 2017). Bouwsma’s honors include a 2024 Poet Laureate Fellowship from the Academy of American Poets and two Maine Literary Awards. Her work can be found in various publications including Ecotone, Green Mountains Review, Kenyon Review, Plume, and Poetry Daily. She has taught in the Creative Writing department at the University of Maine at Farmington, serves on the Community Advisory Board for the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance, and works as the Library Director for Webster Library in Kingfield, Maine.
Art Meets Science Essays
The Portrait of Antoine & Marie-Anne Lavoisier
A story of chemistry, taxes, gunpowder and revolution by President Herman Haller, M.D.
Rembrandt in the Laboratory
An essay by President Herman Haller, M.D.
Online Lectures
In this online lecture series, President Hermann Haller, M.D., physician-scientist and art historian, reveals the common thread between art and science — a shared curiosity rooted in observation, pattern-seeking, and our fundamental desire to understand the world around us. He explores the rich history of artists and scientists learning from nature, the centuries-old relationship between art and science, and the shared human drive to observe, categorize and uncover meaning in the natural world.
Visit our complete Art Meets Science YouTube playlist to explore the full archive of online lectures.
From Naples to Bar Harbor—Paul Klee and Marine Biology