Inspired by an exhibition at the Sheldon Museum of Art, UNL’s Stephen Ducharme will deliver a lecture on nanotechnology and lead a tour of the Nebraska Center for Materials in Nanoscience.

The events, which are free and open to the public, begin at 5:30 p.m. in Jorgensen Hall, Room 136.

Ducharme, a professor of physics and astronomy, became interested in leading the tour and lecture through his fascination with what artists and scientists can create together. He recently visited Paris and became familiar with the work of Wassily Kandinsky, a Russian painter and art theorist.

A work by Kandinsky, “Small Worlds,” is part of the Sheldon’s “The Romance Of the Moon: Science Fiction Invades Art,” exhibit and provides the basis for the lecture and tour. The image conveys the sense of looking into an abstract, small but complex, self-contained world.

“What strikes me about the exhibition is that when scientist do their works they see what’s represented as also having aesthetic character,” Ducharme said.

The exhibit, which explores several themes including space exploration, environmental crisis, the cosmic uncanny, the relationship between human and machine, close encounters and creative innovation, is showing at the Sheldon through Aug. 9. “Romance of the Moon” will travel to eight Nebraska communities as part of the museum’s “29th Annual Sheldon Statewide Exhibition.”

For more information, contact Ann Gradwohl at ann.gradwohl@unl.edu or Ducharme at 402-472-8590.