Hello Science. Meet Art. You two might not be as different as you think.

In fact, the University’s Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB) will prove through The Art of Science exhibit that while some consider scientific research a separate world confined by white-walled laboratories and rigid measurements, each image captured beneath the microscope can actually be captivating art.

Beginning with a free-admission reception on Thursday from 6-8:30 p.m. at the Indi Go Gallery in downtown Champaign, The Art of Science exhibit will run Friday from 4-8 p.m. and Saturday from 2-8 p.m. The 20 images in the gallery offer both a scientific and artistic appeal.

“They’re really beautiful images but they’re also really scientifically very relevant,” said Melissa Edwards, director of communications for the IGB.

The gallery of enlarged microscopic images is a new twist on an already-existing “images of the month,” posted both on the IGB website and on a specified wall in the core facilities. BodyWork, a center for massage-therapy and precision neuromuscular therapy at the ARC and Illini Union, decided to partner with the IGB to put on this event as client appreciation. However, both the IGB and BodyWork emphasize that they share the same purpose for the gathering.

“The main focus is the art, and everything else is to celebrate that,” said Jessica Zizzo, massage therapist for BodyWork involved in the planning of The Art of Science.

The art they celebrate is not typical photography. Instead of those galleries where the main work is a unique take on an everyday object or landscape, The Art of Science’s largest pieces feature something that most would hardly push through crowds to see: a mouse embryo. Yet the image that a slide-scanning instrument called a Nano-zoomer takes is so detailed that it requires about an hour to produce, said Glenn Fried, director of Core Facilities at the IGB.

According to Fried, its actual size is only about a centimeter in height, but in the exhibit it will be 12 feet high.

Other pieces include a plant anther, neurons on a fly and even a pig intestine.

The art emerges when researchers at the IGB put a label in the sample that allows the lasers to grab onto and excite a certain part of the cell, like a nucleus, to control what color it turns out to be. The different colors of light not only enable easier analysis for the trained eye, but they also make the image visually appealing to the average observer. Further manipulation of the image creates what The Art of Science attendees will see this weekend.

“Almost all of our pictures look originally like Christmas, but a separate team makes them look even more interesting,” said Fried.

Not only will there be interesting art, but the exhibit will also have free hors devoirs and live music.

Both Edwards and Zizzo stressed that the event is open to both “town and gown,” and all are hoping that the gallery provides a chance for the “artists” to bridge the gap between the research labs and the public.

“I think that it can be fun for both (groups of) people,” said Fried. “In talking to both the public about this and the scientists, you can tell that they really don’t speak the same language, so I think it’s cool to see that interaction, and that’s what this (event) was designed to do.”