Creative science, art display at Point Pelee

By Deanna Bertrand

Science with a dash of creativity and art was on display at Point Pelee National Park Sunday, October 6 for Baroque Biology by Dr. Jennifer Willet — a Creative in Residence with the Ontario Culture Days 2024.

“We were commissioned by Ontario Culture Days to do an Art and Science fair for the general public,” said Willet at the park Sunday afternoon. 

The free event featured hands-on workshops with artwork and scientific displays, along with music and a lively whimsical parade to the tip.

One of the science and art topics Willet had on display included a bicycle propelled street organ that grows and displays algae.

“Algae has a very important role in our ecology,” she said, from being a superfood to producer of oxygen and possible source of biofuel. But she acknowledged people don’t often strike up conversations about algae and that was what inspired the Great Lakes Algae Organ as a conversational piece of bio-art. 

“It is based on the Dutch street organ,” she said. “It plays music but it is designed to meet the needs of algae – so it agitates the algae, the algae is pumping through the tube, and it gives light to the algae. It feeds the algae with nutrients and plays music to the algae.”

She rode the Great Lakes Algae Organ later in the day for the parade. 

“It is intended to be very whimsical,” she said of the parade. “I love making surprise art – art for people who weren’t expecting to see art that day.”

“I am really inspired by a tradition in South America called Magical Realism – where characters will be going along through life and then something magical happens.”

She says that is how she thinks of these little “art attacks.” 

“People will be birding or hiking and then they will all of a sudden see something they weren’t expecting to see.”

Baroque Biology is the creation of Willet, who is a leader in the Canadian Bio-art community and works internationally as an artist and curator in the field. 

She is a University of Windsor professor and director of the Incubator Art Lab, a bio-art laboratory located in the School of Creative Arts at the university. It can be found at http://www.incubatorartlab.com 

Ontario Culture Days is a province-wide arts organization.

“We run the Ontario Culture Days Festival which happens each fall from Sept. 20 to Oct. 13, 2024,” explained Kaitlyn Patience, with the organization. “During that time, organizers across the province activate to create free participatory arts and culture events,” she said. “We are very happy to be working with her (Dr. Willet) and with the Arts Council of Windsor.”

For more on Ontario Culture Days and free events go to http://www.onculturedays.ca