The Worlds of Connections Science Education Partnership Award team that developed the art exhibit “Vaccinate,” a collection of 46 posters promoting COVID-19 vaccination, has expanded the project with two events and a book.

Julia McQuillan, researcher in the Department of Sociology, is principal investigator of the project.

The posters are on display at Bennett Martin Public Library through Nov. 10. From 4-6 p.m. Nov. 4, a “First Friday” event at the library will feature the artists and the review panel that selected the art. Copies of the posters will be available in limited supply for attendees.

Vaccinate: Posters from the COVID-19 Pandemic is a limited-run book published by the University of Nebraska Press. Copies of the book will be donated to the University of Nebraska Library and public libraries. The book was edited by McQuillan; Aaron Sutherlen, a professor of art and graphic design in the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts; Judy Diamond, professor in the University Libraries and the Natural History museum; and project coordinator Meghan Leadabrand.

The team sees the exhibit as a great university-community partnership, Leadabrand said. Some of the artists are staff or faculty at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln or University of Nebraska–Omaha, some are students and teachers within Lincoln Public Schools, and some from other areas of the state, country, and world. Local artist Bob Hall created eight commissioned works, and Henry Payer of the Ho-Chunk Nation created two. This project is also linked to Judy Diamond’s RAPID Response grant from the National Science Foundation and the publication of C’rona Comix.

Campus connections:

• Artist Eric Morris is an alumnus of the English program

• Sociology major Olyvia Kastner created the image descriptions to make the posters accessible for screen reader users

• Patricia Wonch Hill, faculty member in the Department of Sociology and the Center for Math, Science and Computer Education, researched the project with middle school youth to assess their responses to the posters. She was assisted by undergraduates Thealouise Lahey (history), Simone Hill (emerging media arts major), Adam Wong (actuarial science/accounting major), Destiny Spurlock (sociology), Elizabeth Jardee (business administration, microbiology), Brecken Obermueller (computer science), Kayla Gaertig (biological sciences) and Karen Rodriguez (philosophy, sociology).

• Collaborator Elizabeth VanWormer is in veterinary medicine in the School of Natural Resources.

Learn more about Worlds of Connections.